Last November, Independent TD Mildred Fox announced that she was retiring from politics to devote more time to her three young children, but when her former colleagues hit the campaign trail in the forthcoming general election, she won't be sitting at home with her feet up.
Swapping politics for business, she has established an ice-cream manufacturing company with her brother, Christy, using milk and cream from the dairy herd on his family farm in Wicklow.
Fox's Farmhouse Ice Cream was a big hit on its commercial debut at the recent Tastefest event at the RDS, where queues formed to try its ices and those of co-exhibitors, Three Wells Dairy in Aughrim, Co Wicklow. The two Wicklow farms are part of a nationwide initiative, supported by a Dutch company (Farmhouse Ice Cream, www.farmhouseicecream.com, 01-7079080), which provides the know-how, the recipes and the machinery.
"We use locally sourced ingredients wherever possible, we get all our soft fruits nearby, and it's made on the farms. We each have our designated areas, and we'll be selling in south Co Dublin," says Fox, who describes herself as the company's chief taster and general dogsbody. "I'm amazed at the reaction we got at Tastefest. We've only just started, and I knew nothing about ice cream until I started making it."
Pistachio, chocolate, hazelnut, and caramel are proving the most popular flavours, and Fox's Farmhouse Ice Cream will be on sale at farmers' markets and retail outlets in the next few weeks.
Similar ventures countrywide will also be selling their locally produced ices under the "Farmhouse Ice Cream" banner. Worth looking out for.