A new all-island tourism initiative is to focus on Ireland's reputation for food and drink.

'Taste the Island' will showcase a world-class food and drink culture across the island of Ireland from September to November.

It will give visitors access to authentic food and drink experiences, high quality local ingredients and world-class Irish food and drink produce.

In 2018, food and drink consumption accounted for around €2.6bn - or 35% - of visitor spend.

The programme is seeking to create an awareness and renewed appreciation of Ireland's food culture.

A promotional poster for 'Taste the Island' | Image: Fáilte Ireland

Over 150 businesses and individuals have attended a Fáilte Ireland workshop in Croke Park.

This was part of a series of workshops, taking place to develop the campaign, and was the second of 18 workshops for the industry.

Workshops have been organised for the industry to learn more and provide them with the opportunity to shape the development of a programme.

A number of promotional videos for the workshop have also been released.

Tracey Coughlan is Fáilte Ireland's food tourism strategy and programmes manager.

"The range and quality of food and drink experiences that we met in Dublin today are really world class and have the potential to drive a lot more tourists to this area.

"We know that there is scope for growth around food and drink for tourists and aligned with our world-famous seascapes and landscapes, we have an incredibly strong offering to motivate tourists to visit here.

"Taste the Island is designed to showcase Ireland's fantastic food and drink across September, October and November and I look forward to seeing some really strong ideas coming out of today's workshop.

"What's really important now is that people submit their proposals outlining what they are going to do for Taste the Island for what's shaping up to be chock full season of food festivals and events all showcasing our world class produce"

More information can be found here