AS the Horizons international food and drinks conference in the RDS got down to the serious business of selling Irish food to foreign buyers yesterday, the Minister with responsibility for agriculture in Northern Ireland, Baroness Dent on, promised to work closely with the Republic to promote food exports.

Visiting the Northern Ireland pavilion, where dozens of Northern companies are exhibiting, the Minister also said her Government did not want to disrupt the Florence summit over the BSE issue.

"We hope that a framework will be found for a solution to the problems before then and we are confident that a solution can be found," she said.

But the baroness also indicated that she would not, at this juncture, favour Northern Ireland beef producers securing separate status for their beef from the rest of the UK.

She accepted, however, that Northern Ireland, with 1,600 cases in 1.5 million animals, had a lower rate of infection than the rest of the UK but the North was not, she stressed, BSE free.

The Minister for Agriculture, Mr Yates, greeted Baroness Denton on her arrival and together they toured the exhibition, the largest ever display of Irish food and drink in the state.

Many of the foreign food purchasers brought to the exhibition by An Bord Bia, the authority responsible for the Irish food industry, began negotiating with Irish firms yesterday evening.

By late yesterday evening, details of some of the deals between buyers and Irish food companies began to emerge.

Cooley Distillery is understood to have concluded a major deal for malt whiskey with a Moscow based cash and carry company, CC Mockba.

An announcement is expected later today involving a contract between a west of Ireland confectionery company and a French retail group.

Last night Bord Iascaigh Mhara reported a 15 per cent increase in seafood exports to a record £213 million, a figure which excludes Irish landings at foreign ports.

Europe is the most important international market for Irish seafood exports, with the EU member states accounting for over 70 per cent of all exports.

The exhibition and conference continues today with contributions from Dr A.J.F. O'Reilly of Heinz, Mr Denis Brosnan of the Kerry Group and Mr George Bull, chairman of drinks group Grand Metropolitan.