Forced to cancel its annual conference last March because of the foot-and-mouth scare, the Irish Auctioneers & Valuers Institute has understandably opted for a farming theme for the Saturday morning session of its rescheduled get-together in Tralee this weekend. The Minister for Agriculture and Food, Mr Walsh, will be there, although though his opposite number in the North, Br∅d Rogers, has had to cry off. IFA president Tom Parlon will be looking after the interests of farmers while Hugh O'Callaghan will be representing the highly successful Kerry Group. The slowdown in the housing market will inevitably be one of the themes of the question-and-answer session on Friday morning when the speakers will include Peter Bacon, whose reports have created space for the first-time buyers and strangled the residential investment market. There to help him will be Alan Carthy of Fingal County Council, who has become one of the experts on the provision of social and affordable housing on privately owned sites.