16 Facts About Larry Goodman

Laurence Goodman was born on 15 September 1937 and is an Irish businessman, chiefly involved in the beef processing industry.

Larry Goodman is the 6th generation of a livestock and meat exporting family and founded what is ABP Food Group in 1954.

Larry Goodman is the Executive Chairman of the company which has grown to become one of Europe's largest agri-business companies with 51 processing plants in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Spain, France, Denmark, Netherlands, Austria, Poland.

Larry Goodman's companies attracted controversy during the 1991 Beef Tribunal, while a burger manufacturing facility, Silvercrest, was one of a number of high-profile food manufacturing facilities which were involved in the 2013 European horse meat scandal.

Larry Goodman attended St Mary's College, Dundalk, but left school without finishing his Intermediate Certificate, and followed his father into the meat industry, starting with meat by-products and sheep.

Larry Goodman was "born to a well-off family who had been in the meat business for six generations".

Larry Goodman's brother Peter Goodman worked as deputy chairman of Goodman International and his other brother Michael was a farmer in County Louth.

Larry Goodman then began exporting, building up contacts in the Middle East in particular.

Larry Goodman was on the advisory committee for HSBC's opening of operations in Ireland in 1979, along with Dermot Nolan, Michael Carvill and Peter Hutson.

At the time of the deal, Larry Goodman complained that because there was no Variable Premium subsidy scheme in the UK, exporters there had an effective subsidy of $300 a tonne on beef exporters, thus enabling them to undercut Irish exporters.

In September 1983 Larry Goodman won a $33m contract to supply beef to Iran.

Larry Goodman praised then Minister for Agriculture Austin Deasy, whose visit to Tehran "greatly facilitated the securing of the new contract".

Larry Goodman said it was shocked by the allegations made and that they were "false and malicious comments".

Larry Goodman said he would welcome any investigation from any source and that he would co-operate fully with it.

Larry Goodman said he was astounded by the allegations made in the programme.

Larry Goodman said that the malpractices alleged during the programme in relation to stamping and weighing meat had never been carried out in a "routine fashion", and if they had taken place they had done so without his knowledge or consent.