Jelly Beans and Monopoly boards

SMALL PRINT:THOSE captivated by last week's "story" that a likeness of Kate Middleton's face had been spotted in a Jelly Bean (and, in fairness, who wasn't), might have overlooked a small but interesting detail: Jelly Beans are made in Dublin.

That’s right, the Jelly Bean factory in Blanchardstown produces 12 million beans every day, exporting them to 50 countries.

Ireland has a long history of exporting seemingly random items. In Waterford, Hasbro pumps out thousands of Monopoly, Risk and Cluedo boards every week, along with jigsaw puzzles. We’re also pretty nifty at mining equipment, with Mincon Ltd in Shannon supplying the drill that first broke through the ground to rescue the 33 Chilean miners last year.

We also export sniffer dogs and have trained dogs to detect polycarbonates used to make pirate DVDs. In fact, our fake-DVD sniffing dogs are so good that two – Lucky and Flo – were threatened with kidnap and assassination in Malaysia in 2007 while working for the Motion Picture Association Of America.