Media coverage of proposed GMO potato experiment in Co. Meath

6 June 2006

GM-free victory as trials are scrapped

Western Mail (Australia). By Steve Dube.

The world's largest chemicals company BASF has scrapped controversial plans to conduct trials of genetically modified potatoes in Ireland.

BASF said the decision was taken because of the conditions imposed in the provisional consent given by the Environmental Protection Agency in Ireland last month. These included requiring the company to reduce the risk of contaminating neighbouring farmland and wildlife, to pay the costs of an independent monitoring of health and environmental impacts and to plant the 450,000 potato plants involved in May.

BASF complained that such conditions had not been imposed for similar experiments in Sweden and the company's chief executive Hans Kast responded with an extraordinary interview saying that countries that did not want GM food "should not be in the EU".

The Irish Government's decision to approve BASF's request for a five-year trial on land in County Meath provoked opposition from more than 100 farm and food industry groups and MPs from all the parties, two motions passed unanimously by Meath County Council, and the threat of further legal action on planning and constitutional grounds.

A poll by the Irish Times showed that 72% of respondents want Ireland kept GM-free.

Hans Kast, who chairs Europa- Bio, the umbrella group for the biotechnology industry in Europe, said they could not accept a situation where countries refused to take safe products.

"They should get out of the EU and say we want to be on our own," he said.

Asked about the campaign in Wales, he said he had not heard that the people of Wales did not want GM food.

"Would Wales be allowed to say we don't want to have cars?" he asked.

Dr Brian John of the GM Free Wales campaign group said Dr Kast was talking nonsense.

"The logic is so convoluted and contorted I don't know what he is trying to say," said Dr John.

"It's just garbled rubbish about the EU, but probably he's a bit miffed that they have been nasty to him in Ireland."

GM-free Ireland Network spokesperson Michael O'Callaghan said cancellation of the potato trials was a victory for European farmers who "refuse to surrender ownership of their seeds and crops".

He said the World Trade Organisation's Trade-Related Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) agreement enables corporate owners of GM crop patents to claim ownership of contaminated farmers' produce.

Canadian farmer Percy Schmeiser faced a million-dollar patent-infringement lawsuit from Monsanto after his crops became contaminated with its GM rapeseed in 1996. The Supreme Court of Canada ruled that he no longer owned his seeds and crops because they contained the patented GM genes.

Last month Mr Schmeiser filed a complaint against the government of Canada with the United Nations Commission on Human Rights alleging violation of consumers' and farmers' rights and attempts to force GM terminator seeds - modified to be sterile and prevent farmers from saving and replanting seeds - on the rest of the world.

Mr O'Callaghan said the next step was for the Irish Government to join the European campaign for EC legislation that recognises the right of member states and regions to prohibit the release of GM seeds, crops, trees, fish and livestock.

"The time has come for the Irish Government and EC to stop surrendering our sovereignty and food security to the WTO," he said. Ý

A total of 172 EU regions and provinces have now declared themselves GM Free zones, or - like Wales - passed policies to restrict GM crops.

25 May 2006

BASF not to grow GM potatoes this year

The Irish Times, 25 May 2006. By Seán Mac Connell, Agriculture Correspondent

The announcement that German company BASF will not be growing GM potatoes here this year will give the Environmental Protection Agency time to revoke permission to grow them next year, Green Party leader Trevor Sargent said yesterday.

BASF confirmed yesterday that due to the limited time restrictions of the planting season, it has decided not to conduct the field trials in 2006 for which an EPA licence had been received.

"The consent document contains a number of conditions, and BASF Plant Science has been in contact with the EPA in order to seek clarification on certain areas.

"Due to the limited time restrictions of the planting season, it has been decided not to conduct the field trials in 2006," said its statement.

"The field trial is due to take place on a farm at Arodstown, Summerhill, Co Meath. The approval is for a trial period from 2006 to 2010. A full schedule and outline of the proposed trial was included in the formal notification to the EPA," it continued.

Mr Sargent said the EPA must now use this opportunity to reverse its previous decision to allow any GM trials in Ireland. "Now is the opportunity to ensure that Ireland remains a GM free producing island," he said.

24 May 2006

German firm may abandon planned GM potato trials

Sunday Business Post Online, 24 May 2006.

The German chemical firm that received permission to grow genetically modified potatoes in Co Meath is reportedly considering abandoning the trials.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) decided earlier this year to let the trials to ahead on a farm in Arodstown, despite intense opposition to GM food in Ireland.

However, reports this morning said the firm (BASF) was now considering cancelling its plans to grow the crops due to the stringent restrictions being imposed by the EPA.

The company has already decided not to go ahead with the trials this summer and says it is awaiting the outcome of discussions with the EPA before making a decision about future years.

EPA urged to withdraw licence for GM potato trials

Sunday Business Post Online, 24 May 2006.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is coming under pressure today to withdraw the licence it has granted for trials of genetically-modified potatoes in Co Meath.

Reports this morning said the BASF, the German firm that secured the licence, is considering abandoning the trials due to the stringent restrictions being imposed by the EPA.

The Irish Cattle and Sheepfarmers Association has claimed the move is a ploy by BASF to force the EPA into relaxing the restrictions.

It is calling on the agency to withdraw the licence altogether, saying the people of Ireland do not want anything to do with GM crops.

The campaign group GM-free Ireland, meanwhile, has said it cannot understand why the EPA granted the licence in the first place in the face of widespread opposition and advice from leading international scientists.

Ferris welcomes decision not to proceed with GM Potato Crop

Sinn Féin press release, 24 May 2006.

The Sinn Féin spokesperson on Agriculture, Martin Ferris TD has welcomed the decision by German company BASF not to proceed with the planting of a trial crop of genetically modified potatoes at Summerhill, County Meath. The company is claiming that the conditions imposed on them by the Environmental Protection Agency are too restrictive.

Deputy Ferris said: "I and many other people will welcome this decision. As we have pointed out there was and is no demand for genetically modified crops in this country, and that if any are planted they will pose an almost certain risk of cross-contamination. I trust that the EPA will not allow itself to be forced to lower the conditions for the trial, as appears to be the intention of BASF.

"I will also be questioning the Minister for Agriculture regarding her reaction to the decision and will be closely monitoring the official response. If the Government is listening to those with knowledge and interest in the area, they will no longer promote or facilitate the introduction of GM, for which there is absolutely no necessity and no demand from Irish consumers or farmers."

Potato rules halt GM trials

RTE Business: Today in the press, 24 May 2006

The Irish Independent says genetically modified (GM) potatoes will not be grown here this year. According to the paper, it has also emerged that field trials may be cancelled altogether because of stringent restrictions on how they can be carried out.

German chemical giant BASF said yesterday that it would not be proceeding with the field trials of blight-resistant potatoes in Co Meath this summer because the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) had made it too difficult to do so.

The Irish authorities were imposing conditions that were 'not common with other EU states', a BASF spokesperson said.

Company suspends GM potato trials

RTE News, 24 May 2006

The German BASF plant science company that was granted a five-year licence to carry out field experiments on genetically modified potatoes in Co Meath says it has postponed the trials for one year.

The company says it is seeking clarification on a number of the conditions imposed by the Environmental Protection Agency.

A company spokesperson said similar trials were being conducted successfully in Sweden and the Netherlands but described some of the ten conditions imposed by the EPA on the company as being complicated and detailed.

The EPA says it is clarifying the conditions with BASF but stressed that the licence granted earlier this month stood and would not be changed.

Sargent says EPA must now reverse decision to allow GM trials
as BASF chemical giant pulls out of planned GM potato trial in Co. Meath

Green Party press release, 24 May 2006.

Green Party Leader Trevor Sargent TDtoday welcomed the news that German chemical company BASF is considering pulling out of the planned GM potato trial in Co. Meath.

"The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) must now use this opportunity to reverse its previous decision to allow any GM trials in Ireland. It must not give into any demands from BASF," said the Green Party Leader today. "Now is the opportunity to ensure that Ireland remains a GM free producing island.

"Ireland's traditional GM free food status is a key selling point for Irish food exports and must be protected.

"Green Party policy is to develop the potential of Irish food production on an island-wide GM free basis. The notion that GM pollen can be contained and that GM and non-GM crops can co-exist is a fallacy, as cross contamination in Spain has proven. The only acceptable buffer zone is to keep GM crops out of Ireland," concluded Deputy Sargent.

Information

Trevor Sargent TD - 087 254 7836
Elaine Walsh Press Office - 01-618 3852 / 087 914 8175

BASF admits defeat of GMO potato experiment
EPA conditions "too difficult" to deal with
GMO patents violate human rights
Call for EC to allow total GM crop bans

GM-free Ireland press release, 24 May 2006.

The world's largest chemicals company BASF said yesterday it will not go ahead with its controversial patented GMO potato experiment in Co. Meath this year, and may cancel it altogether.

BASF said it made the decision because of the conditions imposed in the provisional consent given by the Environmental Protection Agency on 8 May [1]. These included obligations for the company to reduce the risk of cross-contamination of neighbouring farmers and wildlife, and to pay the costs of an independent monitoring of health and environmental impacts. BASF complained that such conditions had not been imposed for similar experiments in Sweden.

The cancellation may also have been influenced by nationwide opposition from more than 100 farm and food industry groups, resistance by TDs from all the parties, two motions passed unanimously by Meath Co. Council, and the threat of further legal action on planning and constitutional grounds. [2]

GM-free Ireland Network spokesperson Michael O'Callaghan said "the official cancellation of the GMO potato experiment this year is a victory for European farmers who refuse to surrender ownership of their seeds and crops".

The WTO's Trade-Related Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) agreement enables corporate owners of GMO crop patents to claim ownership of contaminated farmers produce. [3] Canadian farmer Percy Schmeiser faced a million dollar patent-infringement lawsuit from Monsanto after his crops became contaminated with its GMO rapeseed in 1996. The Supreme Court of Canada ruled that he no longer owned his seeds and crops because they contained the patented GMO genes. [4]

Speaking by phone from Canada last night Percy Schmeiser congratulated the Irish farming groups who opposed the GMO potato experiment, and said he has filed a GMO-related complaint against the government of Canada with the United Nations Commission on Human Rights earlier this month. His charges against the Canadian government include:

• Violation of consumers rights because they are not being told about the level of GM contamination in their food supply;

• Violation of farmers' rights because of GMO contamination of their seeds and crops;

• Suppression of academic freedom, due to private sector funding of biotech research;

• Attempts to foist GMO terminator seeds on the rest of the world (terminator seeds are modified to be sterile and thus prevent farmers from saving and planting their own seeds).

Percy Schmeiser and the Indian farm leader Vandana Shiva, who is leading the global campaign against the patenting of farm crops, will be keynote speakers at the Green Ireland conference organised by GM-free Ireland to discuss Ireland's GMO policy at Kilkenny Castle on the weekend of 16-18 June. [5]

Michael O'Callaghan described the cancellation of the GMO potato experiment as "a small victory in the battle to prevent the commercial release of dangerous GMO seeds and crops for which there is no market in Europe".

He said the next step is for the Irish Government to join the European-wide campaign for EC legislation that clearly recognises the legal democratic right of member states and regions to prohibit the release of GMO seeds, crops, trees, fish and livestock if they wish to do so. "The time has come for the Irish Government and the EC to stop surrendering our sovereignty and food security to the WTO", he said. [6]

ENDS

ATTRIBUTION

Michael O'Callaghan
Co-ordinator, GM-free Ireland Network
tel + 353 (0)404 43885
mobile + 353 (0)87 799 4761
email: mail@gmfreeireland.org
web: www.gmfreeireland.org


NOTES TO EDITORS

1. The Irish Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) provisionally approved an experimental field trial of 450,000 patented GMO potatoes by the world's largest chemicals company BASF on 4 May 2006, subject to BASF agreeing to 10 conditions including providing detailed plans before the trial begins for post-release monitoring of health and environmental impacts, and the installation of a high-security electrified fence. The BASF notification and related EPA documents and submissions may be found on the EPA web site at http://www.epa.ie.

2. Information about Ireland's opposition to the proposed GMO potato experiment (including the transcript of a national press conference, protest photos, independent scientific risk assessments, reports of local community meetings, and a map of the proposed experiment site) may be found at http://www.gmfreeireland.org/potato.

3. The Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights agreement (TRIPS) enables individuals and corporations to obtain patents on living organisms ‚ including those that have been genetically modified. The TRIPS agreement is a cornerstone of the so-called "Free Trade Agreement" set up by the World Trade Organisation (WTO). This enables companies like Monsanto to demand patent royalties from farmers who use GMO seeds and crops, including farmers who have no wish to use them but who have been inadvertently contaminated. TRIPS is formally known as the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (Annex 1C of the Marrakech Agreement Establishing the World Trade Organization, signed in Marrakech, Morocco on 15 April 1994). The relevant documents may be found at http://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/trips_e/t_agm0_e.htm.

A paper published in the journal Science in 2005 revealed that nearly 20% of human genes have now been patented, mainly by commercial companies (see note 110 below for details). Gene patents allow companies to claim monopolies on future genetic tests and treatments, and may restrict and distort research.

See the controversial EU Biotech Patents Directive 98/44 on the legal protection of biotechnological inventions: http://europa.eu.int/comm/internal_market/en/indprop/invent/index.htm which apparently fails to consider the contamination of seeds and crops by transgenic DNA.

According to Feargal Brady, Examiner of Patents at the Irish Patents Office (http://www.patentsoffice.ie), there is nothing in EU or Irish patent law to protect contaminated farmers from being sued for patent infringement. The key legal texts include the Irish Patents Act 1992: http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/ZZA1Y1992.html, the Patents (Amendments) Bill of 1999 and the drafting of amendments to the Patents (Amendment) Bill, 1999 approved on 15 September 2004. According to Feargal Brady, Irish patent law places the burden of proof in GMO contamination lawsuits on the contaminated farmer. This violates farmers rights and the "consumer pays" principle and the Irish Constitution. The Irish Patents Office has already granted hundreds of life patents, of which at least 247 to Monsanto. A database of life patents granted in Ireland may be found at http://www.patentsoffice.ie.

4. Expropriation of farmers crops: see interview with Canadian farmer Percy Schmeiser, who lost ownership of his crops after being contaminated by Monsanto's GMO oilseed rape in 1996; the Supreme Court of Canada ruled that the patented GMO genes found in his seeds and crops belong to the patent owner Monsanto, and that the farmer no longer owns his seeds and crops: http://www.gmfreeireland.org/interviews/schmeiser.php .

5. The Green Ireland conference will take place at Kilkenny Castle on the weekend of 16-18 June. Ireland's clean green image provides a competitive advantage for our farming, food and eco-tourism industries. But this is now under threat from air and water pollution and the possible introduction of genetically modified (GM) crops. This conference provides an opportunity for stakeholders and international experts to discuss solutions and learn about our democratic legal rights and responsibilities to determine our future. For details see http://www.gmfreeireland.org/conference .

6. Irish MEPs are being urged to sign the European Parliament's Written Declaration on genetically modified food, seeds and fodder. The deadline for signatures is 13 June. The Declaration calls for every country and region to have the right to completely prohibit the import, growing and sale of genetically modified organisms; it urges urges the Council and the European Commission to implement strict and unlimited liability for gene technology firms concerning all damages to the environment, health and the economy which result from the introduction and utilisation of GMOs; and calls for all patent rights on living organisms to be declared invalid. The full text of the Declaration is available at http://www.europarl.europa.eu/decladoc/document/2006/P6_DCL(2006)0014/P6_DCL(2006)0014_EN.doc

EPA urged to withdraw licence for GM potato trials

Evening Echo, 24 May 2006

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is coming under pressure today to withdraw the licence it has granted for trials of genetically-modified potatoes in Co Meath.

Reports this morning said the BASF, the German firm that secured the licence, is considering abandoning the trials due to the stringent restrictions being imposed by the EPA.

The Irish Cattle and Sheepfarmers Association has claimed the move is a ploy by BASF to force the EPA into relaxing the restrictions.

It is calling on the agency to withdraw the licence altogether, saying the people of Ireland do not want anything to do with GM crops.

The campaign group GM-free Ireland, meanwhile, has said it cannot understand why the EPA granted the licence in the first place in the face of widespread opposition and advice from leading international scientists.

German firm may abandon planned GM potato trials

Irish Examiner, May 24 2006

The German chemical firm that received permission to grow genetically modified potatoes in Co Meath is reportedly considering abandoning the trials.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) decided earlier this year to let the trials to ahead on a farm in Arodstown, despite intense opposition to GM food in Ireland.

However, reports this morning said the firm (BASF) was now considering cancelling its plans to grow the crops due to the stringent restrictions being imposed by the EPA.

The company has already decided not to go ahead with the trials this summer and says it is awaiting the outcome of discussions with the EPA before making a decision about future years.

Firm prevents GM potato-growing field trial

The Irish Independent, 24 May 2006. By Aideen Sheehan

GENETICALLY modified (GM) potatoes will not be grown here this year.

It has also emerged that field trials may be cancelled altogether because of stringent restrictions on how they can be carried out.

German chemical giant BASF said yesterday that they would not be proceeding with the field trials of blight-resistant potatoes in Co Meath this summer because the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) had made it too difficult to do so.

The Irish authorities were imposing conditions that were "not common with other EU states", a BASF spokesperson said.

One of the conditions imposed was that the potatoes would have to be sown in May which had posed too tight a timeline for this year, given the issues that still needed to be clarified with the EPA, she said.

BASF is in discussions with the EPA at the moment over the conditions attached to approval of their field trials, and following these will decide whether to go ahead with them in 2007, she said.

The trials of blight-resistant potatoes were recently approved to go ahead this summer at a farm in Arodstown, Summerhill, Co Meath and continue until 2010, but stringent conditions including the need for independent monitoring were included.

BASF is now assessing the cost and other implications of the EPA decision, their spokesperson said.

The company had been carrying out trials of GM potatoes in Sweden for seven or eight years without problems, she said. GM-Free Ireland welcomed the news, which they said was a victory for opponents of GM technology.

"I am delighted that the local farmers and food producers who put a lot of effort into resisting this and lobbying the county council to take action have succeeded," said spokesman Michael O'Callaghan.

22 May 2006

Ireland should have the right to prohibit the import, growth and sale of GM foods
– Bairbre de Brún

Sinn Féin press release, 22 May, 2006

Sinn Féin MEP Bairbre de Br™n has today called for the risks associated with GM foods to "health, animals and the natural environment to be explained to the general public".

Ms de Brún made her comments as EU farm ministers gather in Brussels for a debate on Genetically Modified foods, amongst other items. The Agriculture Council will meet today to discuss the issue of "Coexistence" on whether or not such foods can be grown alongside non-GM foods.

Speaking today Ms de Brún said:

"Sinn Féin is in favour of a GM free Europe. It is my belief that the majority of Irish consumers are also opposed to the introduction of GMOs to Ireland. Farmers are genuinely concerned about the introduction of GM seed, food and animal foodstuffs into this country, thus shattering Ireland's international image as a clean green society. Environmental groups have consistently warned that GM foods have not been adequately tested to ascertain their long-term effects on human health.

"It is on this basis that I have signed a European Parliament Written Declaration outlining the risks that GM presents for public health, animals and the natural environment. I am also calling for every country and region within the EU to have the right to completely prohibit the import, growing and sale of genetically modified organisms.

"Today's meeting of the Agriculture Council will see Ministers adopt conclusions on the issue of GM Co-existence on whether or not such foods can be grown alongside non-GM foods. The European Commission's approach on this issue leaves much to be desired. They continue to show a total disregard for the views of the citizens of EU member states, who overwhelmingly oppose the introduction of GM foods. I will continue to work both inside and outside of the European Parliament to campaign for Ireland to be declared a GM Free Zone." ENDS

19 May 2006

Field trials of GM potatoes

The Irish Times, 19 May 2006, letter to the editor.

Madam, - Richard Braun (March 16th) is correct in his outsider's observation of the suffering endured in this country as a result of the Great Famine. But I think he'll find, if he does a little more research, that it had more to do with politics than potato blight.

It is still the case today that millions are starving because of oppression, and there is no GM food resistant to that.

– Yours, etc,

Kevin Davenport
Brookville, Ashbourne, Co. Meath

18 May 2006

GMO potatoes

Irish Farmers Journal, letter to the editor, 18 May 2006

Dear Sir,

I knew that when I bought the Irish Farmers Journal this week that it was going to irritate me and indeed it did, with the patronising comment on GM potatoes in Meath. After reading the final sentence that said " that we cannot have it both ways", I was greatly struck by the irony of Andy Doyle's piece on the EPA granting the licence and an article next to it, on the huge opportunities for growth of Irish Speciality Foods or is that Irish Speciality GM Foods?

Though I do not think that they will find a market for that!

As one of those people described as well-meaning. I take great exception to the inaccuracies of the information reported by the Irish Farmers Journal. The linking of the products of GM ie medicines with GM crops in the environment is inaccurate as we are talking about two different things. The agricultural biotechnology industry has been keen to link itself to the huge potential offered by biotechnology in medicine. But we are talking about completely different senarios.

The agricultural biotechnolgy industry still insist on using the dogma that one gene codes one protein, which we in the biomedical world know not to be true. To correctly read DNA in the genome, cells must read another notation that overlays it- the epigenetic code. Epigenetics refers to all the heritable biological factors other than DNA sequences that influence gene expression.

Epigenomics is where genomics was 30 years ago, when everyone was working on part of the puzzle. It still has a long way to go and until it unravels this code, the jury is still out on GM. This certainly disputes the comment that states that there are clear and obvious potential benefits.

We also know that this technology in agriculture is not reducing costs of production and in fact yields are shown to be lower in many GM crops. In Spain which legalised GM maize, the only way they could make it cheaper was by selling two bags for the price of one. Cynically, knowing that once the land was contaminated there was no going back for the farmer.

I would like to ask the Irish Farmer's Journal how they can justify their position on GM when there is not a clear evidence base, particularly when you consider the cost to the environment, agriculture and the Green Image, of Ireland. Prehaps they could tell us who they are representing, it is certainly not the majority of farmers that I know. No one has a monopoly on truth, but the people who are objecting to the licence are people who are in touch with the consumers, who have expressed their concerns throughout Europe in relation to GM in agriculture and Food.

Yours sincerely,

Kate Carmody,
Beal Lodge, Asdee, Co. Kerry

GM foods raise concern

Irish Farmers Journal, letter to the editor, 18 May 2006

Dear Sir,

With regard to your article on the GMO potatoes in Meath and disregarding more serious health and environmental issues of GM crops here, I want to ask: do you really think that this technology has to be introduced into Ireland for us to be able to compete? Do you really think that Ireland has to start growing GM crops when they already abound in other much larger countries and unfortunately have been made to invade developing countries?

Do you really think that Ireland has to - or even would be able to - compete with this?

In a few years time Ireland's agriculture, if it accepted GMOs, would go down the drain because those GM crops are produced much cheaper in other countries.

In the long term, Ireland's agriculture will be neglible, if it went down that line. It can only survive if it has to offer something different. That would be a GM-free agriculture. Foresight doesn't seem to be a characteristic of Irish agriculture - see Nitrates Directive, sugar idustry, and stupid Sitka spruce plantations. Okay, let's talk in 15 years time, when Irish farmers will mourn and lament and look for compensation payments, before they finally shut down.

With regard to the trial which prompted your articles, if you had read the documents available from the EPA, you would have noticed that even the EPA itself was concerned about health hazards that emerged from a genetically engineered pea, into which genes from a near relative, the bean, were introduced.

The same might potentially happen in the case of these GM potatoes, where genes from a wild member of the potato family which never crossed naturally with Solanum tuberosum, were used during the engineering process. I believe that consumers are entitled to expect somewhat better informed attitudes and actions from their natural food growers than simple uninformed talk.

Christine Raab-Heine
Kilmore, Dowra, Co. Leitrim.

_______________________

New appointment to Teagasc

The Guardian (Tipperary), 19 May 2006.

The Minister for Agriculture and Food, Mary Coughlan has appointed Mr. Derek Deane to the Teagasc Authority.

Mr Deane is the Deputy President of the Irish Farmers Association and replaces Ruaidhri Deasy who has served on the Teagasc board for the last four years.

He is a beef and sheep farmer from Tombeagh, Hacketstown, Co. Carlow and won the Bord Bía Quality Beef Producer of the Year Award in 2005. Derek is a former chairman of the IFA's National Livestock Committee.

Speaking at the Teagasc Authority meeting last week, the Teagasc Chairman, Dr. Tom O'Dwyer, welcomed Derek to the board saying that he looked forward to working with him in Teagasc.

ICSA furious with EPA decision

The ICSA has expressed fury with the EPA over its decision to allow a test crop of GM potatoes to go ahead in Co. Meath.

"It's a scandal," said ICSA Rural Development Chairman John Flynn. "This decision is wrong on so many levels. Science has not yet determined the effects that GM crops could have on consumer health. All surrounding farms are now extremely vulnerable to contamination and most importantly, the EPA has just compromised Ireland's clean green image. This is possibly the worst decision that this agency has ever made, and all farmers and consumers will pay the price."'

ICMSA slam Commissioner Boel's speech to D·il

The President of ICMSA, Jackie Cahill, described the Commissioner's speech to the Dáil as "more of the same aspirational and meaningless nonsense that has bedevilled the relationship between the Commission and Irish farmers". Mr Cahill said that telling the Dáil that the Commission wanted stability was all very well, but that farmers would judge the Commission by its actions. And as long as those actions were of the type that through open EU markets to untraceable and possibly infected South American beef, then farmers would remain very sceptical about the type of stability that the Commission had in mind.

Mr Cahill added that Irish farmers preferred dealing with facts, and the two facts that he wanted the Commissioner to remember as she returned to Brussels was that the farmers of Ireland are now suffering year-on-year drops in income and that they have lost all confidence in the ability of the Commission to organise European agriculture in a manner that will pay the primary producers - the farmers - a living wage.

The ICMSA President concluded by saying that something had to change and on the basis of Commissioner Fischer Boel's comments to the Dáil, farmers could only believe that the Commissioner didn't understand this.

17 May 2006

Organic Trust welcomes the decision of Meath County Council to declare Meath a GM-free zone!

Organic Trust press release, 17 May 2006.

The Organic Trust welcomes Meath County Council's decision to declare Meath a GM Free zone. This decision - coupled with their referral of the proposed field trials of the BASF GM potatoes to An Bord Pleanala - is encouraging to people and organisations like the Organic Trust who are fighting the onslaught from the biotech giants on an ongoing basis.

The Organic Trust is disappointed that the points raised in their extensive submission to the EPA (forwarded on 20.02.2006) outlining in detail their objections to the proposed trials have fallen on deaf ears. Helen Scully from the Organic Trust stated "To date we have received no detailed response from the EPA regarding the points raised in the formal objection to these trials lodged by the Organic Trust Limited. In our submission we set out in explicit terms our concerns if the proposed trials were given the go-ahead, however, it would appear that our concerns were not considered of sufficient substance to warrant the EPA denying permission for such trials to take place in Ireland. The Organic Trust fully recognises the very limited remit of the EPA in terms of the areas of concern on which they are permitted to base their decisions and sympathises with the EPA in this regard (perhaps as a secondary issue this is something which needs to be seriously addressed!), nonetheless their decision to approve these trials does represent very worrying short-term thinking - what does not appear to have been taken on board is that we DO NOT want and do not need GM in Ireland . In addition, the decision-making mechanisms in the EPA currently appear as undemocratic and authoritarian with no room to consider in detail the reasoned objections put forward by the Organic Trust".

"The Organic Trust will continue to fight for transparency in the decision making processes of the EPA and will continue to oppose the testing of this untried, unwanted technology" she stated. "GM food poses as great a threat to the future of organic production in Ireland as Avian Flu poses for poultry production or Foot and Mouth posed for meat in the past - the major difference being the GM menace could be stopped completely and immediately if we simply have the courage of our convictions and stand up to the biotech giants". The Organic Trust calls on the Minister for Agriculture Mary Coughlan to "step up and stop these trials now; once such GM releases take place in the Irish countryside, the damage to the image of Ireland as a wholesome, untainted environment for food production will be shattered forever and the consequences for Irish food producers are potentially disastrous."

Notes to Editors:

1) The Organic Trust Limited is an Irish approved organic inspection and certification organisation and operates on a 32 county basis; the Organic Trust are also approved by the EU and by DEFRA (UK) as an organic inspection and certification agency.

2) The Organic Trust Limited certifies the full remit of organic foods - from on-farm production of organic raw materials such as organic meat, poultry, tillage and horticultural products to a vast range of processed organically certified foodstuffs and other products.

We are the guinea pigs in GM food trials

The Irish Times, 17 May 2006.

For the sake of future generations, we need much closer scrutiny of the possible effects of genetically modified foods, writes Dr Elizabeth Cullen

The Irish Doctors' Environmental Association has long-standing concerns in relation to the health impacts of genetically engineered food, and in particular, the decision to grant permission for the planting of genetically engineered potatoes in Ireland. We believe there are good scientific grounds for the opinion that genetic engineering of plants may be both harmful to health and also to our planet.

As background, and simply put, the science of genetics investigates hereditary characteristics. We know that inherited characteristics are passed from generation to generation through genes. Genes are segments of DNA, some of which organise the production of a specific protein. Other genes enable these proteins to interact with one another, and to regulate when, where, by how much and for how long each gene is expressed.

Current genetic engineering technologies do not reflect these interactive processes. Indeed, genetic engineering techniques do not resemble conventional breeding in any way. Instead, the piece of DNA is generally inserted into a virus, which then infects the targeted cell.

This involves the random insertion of selected genes in the absence of the normal regulatory genes. Indeed, it has been argued that gene transfer via current techniques resembles the process of viral infection far more closely than it resembles traditional breeding. There is worldwide concern in relation to the avian flu virus recombining with human influenza virus, but viruses that are used in the genetic engineering process have been found to be able to recombine with natural viruses, and research is ongoing in this area.

A second cause for concern is that the new genes in plants will cause the creation of new proteins, most often alien to the species of the recipient, and in many cases, not normally found in food. These new proteins may, in the worst case, be toxic, allergenic or otherwise detrimental to health. The characteristics of a protein that predispose to it causing an allergy are not always known.

It is difficult to believe there are no peer-reviewed publications of clinical studies on the human health effects of genetically engineered food, despite animal tests giving rise for serious concern. In fact, safety testing of genetically engineered plants is not required if the new plant is deemed to be "substantially equivalent". This term has no scientific meaning; in fact, the very concept itself is profoundly flawed and scientifically unsupportable. It is designed to facilitate rapid commercialisation of genetically engineered crops.

The concept itself does not make sense, for if a genetically engineered plant was the same as its original counterpart, there would be no need to develop it in the first place. The lack of safety testing is disturbing.

US researchers at the National Institute of Health in Bethesda, Maryland, have stated that "there is growing concern among the general public and the scientific community regarding the potential toxicity of genetically engineered organisms". As recently as 2005, researchers at Cornell University expressed concern that little research has been conducted on unintended compositional changes from genetic engineering.

Acknowledging concerns that much of the research into possible adverse health effects from genetically engineered foods had been undertaken by the same companies that promote these products, the state government in Western Australia announced in 2005 that it would fund laboratory testing on rats to determine the safety of genetically modified food crops.

Such research is urgently needed. Results of research to date on animals indicated immune system damage and proliferation of the gastric mucosa in rats fed genetically engineered potatoes, reductions in cellular metabolism and changes in the liver and pancreas in rats fed genetically engineered soya, and lung damage in mice fed genetically engineered peas. Preliminary reports indicate low-birth weight and fatalities in rats fed genetically engineered soya. We note the possibility raised that an outbreak of illness in the Philippines, including respiratory problems and skin reactions, may have been caused by contamination by genetically engineered maize.

The accuracy of testing of existing foodstuffs for the presence of genetically engineered products has also been questioned. It is not possible to determine the extent of uncertainty that a consignment of food or seed is free or not free of genetically engineered products. The justifiable fears generated when StarLink maize intended for animals was found in the human food chain are well documented.

To accurately assess any adverse health impacts in humans, it is necessary to have baseline data collected prior to the introduction of the food under surveillance. We do not have such information in Ireland and health surveillance systems at present in Ireland are not adequate to detect adverse health effects should they arise from this planting.

Foods that contain genetically engineered ingredients need not be labelled if the proportion they contain is less than 1 per cent. However, we know that allergies may be caused by the presence of allergens in much smaller amounts. Have we an increase in allergies to soya products in Ireland? The answer is that we do not know.

We do not deem it acceptable that statutory health agencies, both Irish and internationally, use EU guidelines, which do not reflect current health concerns.

Containment of genetically engineered seed is not possible and seeds will spread by wind, and by people and animals. Children are the most vulnerable as they will have the longest exposure to genetically engineered food.

If this planting is allowed, we will be leaving an irreversible legacy to future generations and we will be guilty of a deliberate betrayal of their interests. The precautionary principle must be invoked in the light of the serious concerns which we have outlined in relation to the impact of genetically engineered food on health. The Irish Doctors' Environmental Association, in the interest of health of present and future generations, requests that a moratorium be declared on the growing and sale of genetically engineered food in Ireland.

When we asked the current EU health commissioner to comment on possible safety aspects of genetically engineered food, he replied that the "EU introduced specific legislation on GMOs to protect its citizens' health and the environment while simultaneously creating a unified market for biotechnology". Genetic engineering has been referred to as "an unholy alliance of bad science and big business". We, and our children, are guinea pigs in a giant global experiment in which nobody is monitoring the results.

Dr Elizabeth Cullen is a committee member and co-founder of the Irish Doctors' Environmental Association (www.ideaireland.org)

'Ming' slams 'deafening' IFA silence on GM trials

Roscommon Herald, 17 May 2006

The silence from the IFA over the Environmental Protection Agencyís decision to grant permission for GM potato trials in Co Meath has been described as ëdeafeningí by a Castlerea independent councillor.

This week Cllr Luke 'Ming' Flanagan described the decision as "one of the most significant in Irish farming history", but it did not even warrant a mention on the IFA website. "This does not come as a surprise to me but it runs contrary to the views of Roscommon members of the IFA, if a meeting which took place on March 1st in the Abbey Hotel, is anything to go by. This meeting involved the showing of a documentary on GM foods. After the documentary was shown a discussion ensued on the topic. Members of the farming community spoke about their opposition to such technology. To put it simply there was not a dissenting voice in the room. Among those who spoke against the planting of GM crops in Ireland were local members of the IFA," he said.

"The EPA has now made its decision and we have silence from the IFA. If the IFA do not wish to represent the views of their members then they might as well not exist," said the councillor.

"The decision which was taken by the EPA is bad for Irish Farming. This decision goes against the opinions of 80% of the citizens of the European Union. The public, in opinions polls, have consistently made it clear that they do not want these foods. Up until now we could market our food to these people on the basis that it was produced in a GM free environment. This valuable marketing tool will now be denied to us in return for nothing.

"It is a continuation of our participation in a race to the bottom in food production.

"Ireland does not have a future in cheap mass produced patented food. Its future is in top quality food at the high end of the value chain. When the value of our food starts to drop in comparison with that of countries who have decided to remain GM free we will then hear the IFA complaining about how farmers in Ireland are not getting a fair price for their food. Well when that day comes I hope that both the farmers and consumers of this country remember whose inaction got us into the fix in the first place. Now is the time for the IFA to do something about it. It is time for them to be proactive rather than reactive.

"If not then it is time for farmers to ask some serious questions about who they mandate to represent their views," concluded Cllr Flanagan.

16 May 2006

The Irish Times, Letter to the Editor, 16 May 2006.

Madam, - The Irish Environmental Protection Agency recently gave the German Agrochemical company BASF the go-head to test its blight-resistant potatoes on a one-hectare field in Co Meath. On May 6th, the media reported that Green Party leader Trevor Sargent and others were going to oppose this trial.

As an outsider to your country it strikes me as ironic that people in Ireland, which suffered most from potato blight over the past 200 years, are now opposing tests to improve control of this disease with modern plant-breeding methods.

Scientists depend on field tests in order to decide whether a new crop variety is more appropriate than the older ones, for instance by requiring less fungicide and still giving a good yield.

The attitude of the opponents to GM crops reminds me of the idea behind a wonderful old Guinness advert: "I don't like Guinness because I never tried it".

It is sad that green parties all over Europe have allowed themselves to be dragged into fundamental opposition to genetically modified crops, while these crops are spreading all over the world and more and more farmers are planting them.

- Yours, etc,

Richard Braun, Bern, Switzerland.

The Irish Times, Letter to the Editor, 16 May 2006.

Madam, - The strident opposition of GM Free Ireland and the Irish Cattle and Sheep Farmers' Association to proposed field trials of genetically-modified blight-resistant potatoes (Irish Times, May 6th) defies logic.

Modern farmers use systemic fungicides against blight. These are "organic" compounds (in the original chemical sense of the word), are usually heavy-metal free, and biodegrade in a few weeks. Organic growers also have to spray, as it is the only effective control against blight. Ironically, however, their rules restrict them to traditional (19th-century) copper-based sprays. Copper is a poisonous and persistent heavy metal, with long-term environmental effects, and copper-based sprays are soon to be banned completely by the EU.

There is negligible danger of cross-contamination of conventional crops by pollen from GM potatoes since, as every gardener knows, potatoes do not set true seed but are propagated solely by vegetative tubers (literally, cloned chips off the old block).

A blight-resistant potato has been the Holy Grail of plant breeders for the past 150 years. At last, modern biotechnology has the prospect of producing such a potato, which will require no chemical spraying - something that one would expect to be welcomed wholeheartedly by environmentalists, organic growers and consumers.

- Yours, etc,

Con O'Rourke, Park Lane, Dublin 4

15 May 2006

No advantage for Ireland in GM Crops

Press release from Michael Mulcahy TD
Vice Chairman of the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs, 15 May 2006.

Deputy Michael Mulcahy, speaking on the Dáil European Day, Wednesday 10th May, strongly criticized the decision of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), to give the green light to BASF for the experimental planting of GM crops in Co. Meath.

Deputy Michael Mulcahy, a long time critic and opponent of GM crops and GM food stated "there is absolutely no advantage to the Irish agriculture industry to plant GM crops. Ireland has long has a reputation as a producer of top quality natural fresh food produce, and, if we go down the GM path, we will reduce our international reputation and become simply another mass food producer. This could have disastrous consequences for Irish agriculture and, I am calling on the Minister for Agriculture and Food, Mary Coughlan T.D., to take a decisive lead in this area. Additionally, there are environmental and food safety issues, and I note that the European Union Environment Commissioner, Mr. Stavros Dimas has criticized the EUs own specialist agency dealing with food standards, The Food Safety Agency."

In my opinion, GM food is bad for Irish agriculture, bad for our environment, and bad for our consumers.

Ends

Contact 086 815 1503

From "Food Island" to "Fool's Island"
Government shows utter contempt for consumers, taxpayers and farmers

IFARM press release, 15 May 2006.

John Heney of IFARM - the Irish farm and rural movement - has accused the Government of treating Irish consumers, taxpayers and farmers like fools by choosing to completely ignore the content of a high profile policy document on the future of farming which it launched recently. Ý

Responding to the Governments "deafening silence" on the EPA's decision to OK the growing of GM potatoes in Co Meath, Mr Heney pointed out that it is barely two months since the Government launched their much-heralded Agrivision 2015 Action Plan to save Irish farming.

In this long-awaited document the Minister for Agriculture Mary Coughlan proudly declared that the future of Irish farming lay in "delivering high quality nutritious food - to well informed consumers". However, in what amounts to a cynical U turn, the Government has decided to pander to the interests of big business and totally ignore the wishes of these same "well informed consumers", 80% of whom consistently say they do not want GM food on their plates. Ý

Mr Heney went on to say "It is becoming obvious that the Agrivision 2015 Action Plan along with all of the others plans before it, is little more than a very expensive smokescreen put in place to appease an increasingly concerned public. These plans, which have been prepared at huge cost to the taxpayers, are simply an effort to hide the reality of the accelerating decline in farming and rural areas. It is painfully clear that when there is a choice to be made between rural Ireland and the interests and wishes of multinational companies, the government will always choose the multinational's 30 pieces of silver" Ý

Rural Ireland has suffered enough deceit and hypocrisy over the years and certainly has no need for enemies if this is what our current government sees as its vision for the future of farming in Ireland, concluded Mr Heney.

ENDS.

For further information contact: John Heney at 085 103 9950
www.irishfarmandruralmovement.com

Note to editor: Ý

IFARM supports the principles of rurality, rural values and rural lifestyles and believes that these values should be protected from the selfish interest of powerful external forces.

13 May 2006

Trial license: GMO potatoes in Meath

Irish Farmers Journal, 13 May 2006

We presumably have to accept that those objecting to granting of a GM license to test the modified potatoes in Meath are well meaning. We also have to insist that the facts are faced up to. The Environmental Protection Agency EPA is right to grant a trial license in this instance.

Potatoes propagate through the muliplication of the tubers. Airborne transfer of pollen which is an issue with oilseed rape is not a factor in potatoes. Coupled with that these particular potato plants are in fact using transferred genetic material from other types of potatoes so it is not valid to argue that genetic material from a different species completely is being transferred. In addition potatoes under Irish conditions are particularly vulnerable to blight and require frequent spraying.

The basic core of the case from the objectors seems to be that GMOs should not, as a principle, be used in Ireland - at all. This is a tall order. They are already widely used in medicine and chesse manufacturers. To deliberately close off an avenue of science that has clear and obvious potential benefits seems to be a negation of our rationality.

But there is also the practical consideration that most of the major food producers of the world - who are our competitors - are using this technology to reduce their costs of production and enhance their yields. Europe has sent a clear signal to its farmers that we are not going to be sheltered from outside competition. We cannot have it both ways.

12 May 2006

GM Free Ireland
Slow Food® Ireland statement, 12 May 2006

Slow Food® Ireland, a member of the International Slow Food movement with 83,000 members in 107 countries worldwide, wishes to state its opposition to the granting of licences by the Environmental Protection Agency of genetically modified trials in Ireland.

The stated position of Slow Food® worldwide in relation to Genetic Modification in plants or animals is that in order to defend the world's heritage of agricultural bioidiversity, and to support sustainable agriculture, resistence to Genetical Modification of our food is a battle we are waging.

Granting the right to patent food seeds to private companies threatens to create a situation where private interests can undermine the focus of national governments to feed their populations. It also hinders the creation of a strong, bio-diverse food culture so essential to ensure human health and welfare.

To defend the biodiversity of our world, from vegetable species to animal breeds "is a battle for civilisation." – Carlo Petrini, President Slow Food®

"Genetically modified foods are wholly unnecessary, they are based on poor scientific research, and operate within a complete absence of any knowledge about the long-term effects of such foods on environmental and human health. At a time when Ireland is seeking to create a well-deserved identity as Ireland - The Food Island, the granting of these licences sends out a disastrous message to the many countries who already purchase foods grown in Ireland."
– John McKenna Slow Food® Ireland Member.

"The reality is, that at this point in time no one, be they for or against, can actually predict for sure what the long-term effects of eating foods containing GMOs will be on humans or animals.

The future of Ireland - the food island depends on producing top quality safe food. Ireland the GM food island does not have the same appeal or cachet."
– Darina Allen, Chair Slow Food® Ireland.

Slow Food® Ireland believes that in granting licences to develop GM crops in Ireland the EPA would abrogate its responsibilities to the protection of the Irish environment.
– Signed by the Chair and Convivia Leaders of Slow Food® Ireland. May 2006

10 May 2006

Organic farmers and growers oppose GM potato trials

Irish Organic Farmers and Growers Association press release, 10 May 2006

The recent decision by the Environmental Protection Agency to allow German agro-chemical firm BASF to plant genetically modified potatoes in Co. Meath is strongly opposed by organic farmers and growers. Padraig Fahy, Chairman of the Irish Organic Farmers and Growers Association, said:

"We are saddened that the EPA has seen fit to allow GM crops into Ireland. It looks like the Irish EPA is a push-over for any big corporation that wants to use Ireland as a back door to put GM crops into the rest of Europe. We in the organic movement, along with a growing number of other consumers and NGOs in Ireland will continue to oppose and seek to prevent the deliberate release of GM material into the environment."

"Quite frankly, we are astonished that the EPA has ignored the growing body of respected scientific evidence that genetically modified organisms do have unpredicted and undesirable side effects. In its written statement approving the trial the EPA says it 'believes that the risk to human health and the environment from the deliberate release of these GMOs are low'. But it presents no evidence to justify such a sweeping assertion."

"When you have an increasing body of evidence suggesting that there is still considerable scientific ignorance about GM technology and you also have an increasing body of evidence of serious and irreversible harm from some GM technologies then you really have to adopt a precautionary approach. We think the EPA has been negligent by failing to act on this precautionary principle."

"We are delighted that public representatives on Meath County Council have voted unanimously to declare their county GM free. We are also extremely encouraged that Meath County Council has agreed to refer the GM field trial at Summerhill to An Bord Pleanala in view of the fact that it may breach planning regulations."

"People have a basic right to choose not to eat GM food. Organic farming standards respect this by prohibiting the use of GM feedstuffs and crops. By deliberately - or accidentally - releasing GM material into the environment that right is obliterated."

"There is no demand for GM produce in Ireland. And in the UK - which is still one of our biggest external markets - GM is viewed with considerable disdain. Consumers want nothing to do with it. So why are we risking our greatest marketing asset - our clean, green image. Surely the best way to protect and enhance the market for Irish food is to keep Ireland GM free and encourage sustainable food production such as organic farming."

END

Notes to editors:

1) Irish Organic Farmers & Growers Association (IOFGA) represents organic farmers, organic growers, and consumers of organic food throughout the island of Ireland.

2) IOFGA certifies processed and non-processed food and agricultural produce which has been produced according to the Irish Standards for Organic Food and Farming.

GM issue could topple EU constitution

Press release from Kathy Sinnott MEP
European Parliament delegate to the World Trade Organisation
European Parliament Committee on Environment, Public Health and Food Safety

Europe Day, Dáil Eireann, 10 May 2006

If the European Commission persists in its misguided policy to force GM seeds and crops on us, the people of Ireland will vote against adopting the European Constitution and against any further EU integration.

The EU still refuses to recognise the democratic legal right of Ireland and its other member states to remain free of GMO seeds and crops if they so choose.

Remaining GMO-free is vital for the health of the Irish people and all those who consume Irish farm and food produce around the world.

It is also essential for the future economic viability of the Irish farm and food sectors.

The EU's attempt to force GM seeds and crops into Ireland will make it impossible to convincingly market Irish food as safe and healthy under Bord Bía's brand of "Ireland - the food island."

Contact:

Kathy Sinnott MEP
tel + 353 (0)87 278 6552.

Irish Labour Party joins GM-free Ireland campaign

GM-free Ireland press statement, 10 May 2006.

Speaking today at the European Day GM-free Ireland press conference at the European Commission Office in Dublin, the Labour Party spokesperson for Agriculture and Food, Mary Upton TD, announced that the Labour Party supports the campaign to conserve Ireland's GMO-free status.

Mary Upton said the Labour Party considers the European Commisson's refusal to recognise the right of its member states and regions to ban GMO seeds and crops if they want to do so as undemocratic and completely unacceptable.

Sargent challenges EU Agricultural Commissioner to tell biotech companies that GM seed and crops are unwanted and undemocratic

Green Party press release, 10 May 2006

Statement by Trevor Sargent
Spokesperson on Taoiseach & Northern Ireland, Gaeltacht, Agriculture and Food.

Today in the Dáil Green Party Leader Trevor Sargent TD took the opportunity to question the European Union Agricultural Commissioner Mariann Fischer Boel about key concerns for farmers and the public both in Deputy Sargent's own constituency as well as further afield.

"The people I represent are angry with the EU for colluding with the World Trade Organisation to indulge the commercial colonisation tactics of GM biotech companies. The fight to ensure the people can keep the country free of GMO seed and crops now takes on a renewed impetus following the recent decision by the Environmental Protection Agency to grant permission for GM trials in Co. Meath.

"An historic blow for democracy was struck last Monday by Meath County Council when a Green Party motion that the county should be made a GM free zone was unanimously endorsed. Meath now joins over 3400 local authorities and 172 regions, provinces and prefectures which are declared GMO free areas.

"Any assurance that GM labelling will be watertight is meaningless with the experience of mis-labelling to date. For example there is widespread evidence of false labeling that is already allowing imported potatoes and beef and other produce to be labelled as Irish.

"The people and farmers of Ireland are not asking, they are telling the European Commission that they will determine the future of our GM free status which up to now has been taken for granted. The words of Herr Rudi Anschober, Minister for the Environment in Austria are a call to action in Ireland too when he says that 'it is a basic principle that we can decide on our own what will grow in our fields! We demand the right of self-determination for the region'."

Summerhill GMO trial go-ahead slammed

The Meath Chronicle, 10 May 2006. By Christina Hession.

THE Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) decision to give the go-ahead to a controversial field trial of genetically modified potatoes at Arodstown, Summerhill, has been slammed by opponents.

The Green Party is calling on the farmers of Meath and Ireland as a whole to insist that the EPA reverse this decision. Its candidate for Meath West, Brian Flanagan, described the decision to allow German chemical company BASF to grow GM potatoes in Summerhill as "a blow to Ireland's traditional GM-free food status which is a key selling point for Irish food exports."

Colr Joe Reilly, Sinn Fein's general election candidate for Meath West, described the decision as "an absolute disgrace and flies in the face of local democracy".

He said: "Once again a statutory body in this State has sided with the multi-national corporations against the expressed wishes and best interests of the people. I will be calling on other councillors to support the GM-free group that has been lobbying strongly against this decision lately. I am also calling on the progressive farmers and farming organisations to express their opposition to GM crops, as it is not in the interest of the agricultural sector."

Mr Flanagan described as a fallacy the notion that GM pollen can be contained and that GM and other non-GM crops can co-exist. "Cross-contamination has been proven in Spain. Although the produce from Summerhill will not be for consumption, a large concentration of conventional Irish potatoes for market are grown in neighbouring fields and are almost certain to be cross-contaminated," he claimed.

The EPA's consent to carry out the field trials is subject to 10 strict conditions with regular monitoring and reporting to the agency. The trial site will also be checked for compliance with the licence conditions on a regular basis by the EPA's expert agronomists.

BASF Plant Science will also be required to fund independent post-planting environmental studies to look at several different aspects of the project. The details of this monitoring must be fully agreed by the EPA in advance of planting.

The company will also be required to submit monthly reports to the EPA for monitoring purposes.

Clash over claims at Navan anti-GM meeting
Objectors dismiss remarks by Monsanto chief

The Meath Chronicle, 10 May 2006

A CLAIM that there was not one single document linking genetically modified foods to issues of ill-health led to an angry clash between the chief executive of the Monsanto company and the chairman of a meeting in Navan last week called to protest at a pending decision to allow a test crop of GM potatoes in Meath.

The meeting drew an attendance from a wide range of interests, including the organic growing industry, farming, councillors, environmental campaigners, Green Party members, a chef and a herbalist.

The controversy arose when Dr Patrick O'Reilly, business manager of the genetic engineering giant, Monsanto, made his remarks. He said he was not surprised that people were scared of GM foods because of the "wild allegations" that were made. He said that there was not one single document relating to GM foods affecting health issues.

He was told by Michael O'Callaghan of the GM-free Ireland Network, who was chairing the meeting: "That is complete bullshit."

However, Dr O'Reilly said that one billion acres of GM crops were being grown across the world, in places like North America, South America, China and even Europe. He said that the chairman had said that GM foods had been linked to deaths in livestock and rats. "There is absolutely no evidence of that. The WHO, the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the UN, and the European Commission have all given GM a free bill of health," said Dr O'Reilly.

He denied that Monsanto was in a dominant position in world food production, adding that the company sold only three per cent of world food last year.

Mr O'Callaghan said that the meeting was held to discuss the legalisation by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) of the growing of GM potatoes in the Summerhill area.

Most GM crops were modified by taking genetic material from viruses and bacteria and even a plant or an animal which were combined together and then inserted in a very random way into the cell of the plant to be developed, he said. That process of genetic modification itself had been found by independent scientists to lead to some major problems - it destabilised the genetic code of the organism.

"After all, plants are living creatures, they are not machines with interchangeable spare parts and if you randomly push, or tamper with the genetic code and insert a new genetic code inside, you are going to have long-term consequences which are impossible to predict scientifically.

"My grandfather was a member of the first Dáil and, in my view, the kind of decision-making going on in relation to this whole business is a new form of biological colonialism." He said that a wide range of interests considered what he termed Fianna Fáil's go-ahead for GM trials as "a total betrayal of the trust of the Irish people."

Columban priest Fr Seán McDonagh, Dalgan Park, said he believed that by going ahead with something like this (GM trials), when there was a question of a risk to human health, was "very foolish."

"One of the spurious arguments made in favour of GM foods is that they are going to feed the world. They will do no such things; in fact, they will do the very opposite."

He was looking it from a Third World perspective but also a moral perspective, he said. 'The very concept of patenting life is evil."

Dominic Rice, a farmer from Skryne, said that he had contacted the farmer on whose land it was proposed to conduct the trials. "His priority is that he will be able to grow potatoes that won't have to be sprayed." He had invited him to the meeting but he had declined, he said.

Cllr Tom Kelly, Green Party, said that he had had grave worries about GM for a very long time. He said that he thought it "an absolute disgrace" that there was no proper labelling of food.

Cllr Phil Cantwell said he had been shocked to hear of the EPA decision. "I phoned six large potato farmers this morning - three of them were in favour of the trials, and three indifferent. Where are the farmers tonight? This is a pathetic turnout. The IFA has got to come out and say where they stand," he said.

Chef Gerry Meade, who is originally from Navan and who objected to the GM trials, said he was a member of Euro-Toques, the European Community of Chefs (250 of whom are in Ireland) who support fresh, local, seasonal, artisan foods to promote on their menus. He said the organisation at national and EU level lobbies on food issues that threatened the quality of ingredients and for five years had actively campaigned against GMOs.

Meanwhile, Meath County Council on Monday adopted a motion from Green Party councillor Tom Kelly to declare Meath a GM-free local authority.

The council also adopted Colr Kelly's motion calling on the EPA not to allow the experimental growing of any GM products in Meath.

Members, including Fine Gael Trim area councillor, Peter Higgins, on Monday highlighted the huge numbers of text messages they had been receiving about the plan by BASF Plant Science to conduct experiments at Arodstown.

Colr Higgins suggested that, under the planning legislation, the question of whether or not this was an exempt development could be investigated. He said the council should seek advice on whether or not this trial required planning permission.

Council chairman, Colr Brian Fitzgerald, said he wanted an informed debate on the issue. A decision already had been made to have the matter discussed at Strategic Policy Committee (SPC) level. He told FG councillor, William Carey, who wanted the matter dealt with in the new County Development Plan, that it could still be included in that document.

Ferris attacks government stance on GM

Sinn Féin press release, 10 May, 2006

Speaking this morning at a Press Conference organised by GM-free Ireland, the Sinn Féin spokesperson on Agriculture Martin Ferris TD condemned the ongoing attitude of the current Government towards the introduction of genetically modified crops and food products into Ireland. The conference was specifically planned to oppose the granting of a license for a GM potato crop in Meath, but Deputy Ferris pointed out that this is only the latest in a series of pro-GM decisions made without proper democratic consultation or approval.

Deputy Ferris said: "There has been no debate on the issue either in Leinster House or among the general public. No elected body has voted in favour of GM and yet Government officials have consistently adopted a pro-GM stance in Brussels. Fianna Fáil had also broken the promise it made in its 1997 Manifesto to oppose GM.

"When myself and other TDs have raised this Government's voting record, we have been fobbed off and told that the relevant officials are satisfied that GM poses no risk to either health or conventional crops. This despite the fact that there is evidence that the EU has suppressed reports highlighting dangers to health, and that the former Chief Scientific Officer in this state requested the EU Commission to withhold a report confirming the inevitability of crop contamination.

"The implications of GM for Irish agriculture are enormous. If GM crops are allowed to be grown here, non-GM crops will inevitably be contaminated with all the potential damage which that would have on the safety of Irish food produce, and the image of this island as the source of clean safe food."

Meath declares a GM-free zone

Irish Independent, 10 May 2006. By Aideen Sheehan.

MEATH County Council has this week declared the county a "GM-free" zone but admitted the Environmental Protection Agency had already given the go-ahead to grow genetically modified potatoes there.

The council declared itself a "GM-free local authority" and called on the EPA not to consent to a trial of blight-resistant GM potatoes, but noted that this consent had already been given.

German chemical giant BASF said yesterday that it will decide in the next few days whether to go ahead with its trial of genetically-modified potatoes in Co Meath.

Opponents GM-Free Ireland were yesterday jubilant about the council motions which they claimed meant BASF had been forced to cancel its GMO experiment.

But the declaration by Meath County Council does not appear to have any legal status.

An EPA spokesperson said it was the legal body charged with approving GM applications, and the only way their approval could be challenged was in the courts. It gave permission on Friday for the five-year trial of blight-resistant potatoes at a farm in Arodstown, Summerhill.

ICSA's chairman denounces factories over lamb prices

The Meath Chronicle, 10 May 2006

ICSA sheep chairman Mervyn Sunderland has denounced factories for forcing lamb price downwards over the last two weeks.

Spring lamb prices have been in freefall, dropping from s4.76 / kg (£1.70 / lb) to s4.42 / kg (£1.57 / lb) recently.

He said: "Demand for quality lamb is high at the moment and farmers in other markets are getting good prices for their lambs. The imported lamb in Rungis is making s4.80 / kg (£1.71 / lb).

"Although prices have come back this week in the UK, British farmers were receiving the equivalent of s5.52 / kg earlier this week. The only reason that I can see for this situation is that the factories are keeping prices deflated to line their own pockets. They are cutting back on bonuses and are not willing to pay for quality.

"A 19 kilo lamb will only fetch s85.12 before deductions at the factory gate. How is any farmer expected to rear and feed and transport an animal when the margins are so slender?

"We are used to the factories playing hardball like this but they have gone too far today. They are in danger of collapsing the whole sheep meat sector."

Meanwhile, on the controversial GM issue, the ICSA has expressed fury with the EPA over its decision last week to allow a test crop of GM potatoes to go ahead in Co Meath.

"It's a scandal," said ICSA Rural Development Chairman John Flynn. "This decision is wrong on so many levels. Science has not yet determined the effects that GM crops could have on consumer health.

"All surrounding farms are now extremely vulnerable to contamination and, most importantly, the EPA has just compromised Ireland's clean green image. This is possibly the worst decision that this agency has ever made - and all farmers and consumers will pay the price."

No problems with European GM trials

Letter to the Editor of the Meath Chronicle, 10 May 2006

Dear sir - These days Meath farmers face serious problems on many fronts. Now to add to their worries they have to listen to the fear mongering of GM Free Ireland who claim the GM potato research trials will cause contamination of their crops that will be "impossible to reverse for thousands of years to come" (Meath Chronicle, May 3, 2006).

Such over the top claims have no basis in science. The concept Ireland can be GM free is a non starter as Ireland lost its GM free virginity between 1997 and 1999 when experimental trials of GM sugar beet were carried out. These trials were EPA approved and did not lead to the rejection of Irish exports, Ireland's image as a green nation, nor cause crop 'contamination'.

It should be remembered the research trials of the blight resistant GM potatoes proposed for Co Meath are one of 200 GM potato trials that have occurred across the EU (under Directive 01/18) from a total of over 1,800 trials of different GM crops. No problems have been reported in any of these regulated trials.

Michael O'Callaghan (GMFree Ireland), who is now calling on Meath County Council to ban the research trials is correct when he states: "it is up to local communities and county councils to take responsibility." There are many opinions on GM crops but a few recent comments from county councillors in Ireland taking 'responsibility' are worth noting. For example, according to the Carlow People newspaper (April 18, 2006) a GM Free motion was not supported by Bagenalstown Town Council. Colr Arthur McDonald (FF) speaking against the failed motion stated: "This is about stopping trials. If you don't have trials for cancer and things how would we find out what happens.

This strikes me as Green gobbledy gook." Statements made on a similar failed GM Free motion at Carlow Town council meeting by Colr Jim Townsend (Lab), who is a farmer and candidate for Labour in the next general election, echo the above sentiments.

As for the 5000 petition signatures that GM Free Ireland claims to have, this petition remains unpublished. In the meantime, I successfully added Bertie Ahern, Gerry Adams, BonoÇ and my dead grandfather to their online petition - no email check or confirmation was ever done.

The words from Dr Patrick Moore, an environmentalist and a founding member of Greenpeace, who served for nine years as President of Greenpeace Canada and then seven years as a Director of Greenpeace International are also worth noting: "The campaign of fear now waged against genetic modification is based largely on fantasy and a complete lack of respect for science and logic. The environmentalists' campaign against biotechnology in general, and genetic engineering in particular, has clearly exposed their intellectual and moral bankruptcy." (The Age Newspaper, February 16, 2004).

I know full well that there are no easy votes in GM crops. However, I still believe there are votes in responsible research and development and local representatives standing up to blatant misinformation. It is the least the farming community in Meath deserves.

Yours,

Shane Morris BSc,
Coolkill, Sandyford, Dublin 18.

9 May 2006

GMO potato experiment cancelled

Co. Council declares Meath a GMO-free zone
BASF forced to cancel GMO experiment
Press conference at European Commission Office 10am Wednesday

GM-free Ireland press release, 9 May 2006.

Meath County Council last night unanimously passed two motions that are widely expected to force the world's largest chemicals company BASF to abandon a controversial experiment with patented genetically modified (GMO) potatoes which it hoped to launch in the area this week.

In January, the German company BASF Plant Science GmbH notified Ireland's Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) of its plans to start a five-year experiment with 450,000 genetically modified potatoes on a farm near Summerhill, Co. Meath. Following a public consultation process and a series of probing questions by EPA staff, the regulatory body approved the GMO experiment last Friday subject to BASF agreeing to 10 conditions, including a mandatory 4 year post-release monitoring period for environmental health risks.

At an emergency community meeting in Navan on Friday night, the EPA's provisional go-ahead was criticized as a highly controversial and premature decision that ignored the health and environmental risks warnings of independent GM scientific experts, made in the face of total opposition from stakeholders across the country. Local farmers said the release of patented GMO crops could expose them to cross-contamination, mandatory GM labeling, loss of market share, demands for patent royalties, patent infringement lawsuits, and possible loss of ownership of their crops if they became infected with the patented GMO genes. Jim Cosgrave, a farmer from Enfield, said the locals were also extremely concerned about the impact on property values. "Who would want to buy or rent contaminated farmland?" he said. An Irish Times news poll yesterday found that 72 per cent of respondents oppose GM crop trials in Ireland.

The Council's first motion declares Meath a GMO-free zone. This makes Meath the sixth county on the island to prohibit GMO seeds and crops, along with Cavan, Clare, Fermanagh, Monaghan and Roscommon, and the towns of Galway, Navan, Newry and Clonakilty. Meath benefits from some of the most fertile soils in Ireland and is home to the country's largest potato growers. Its official GMO-free status has symbolic importance because Co. Meath (from the Gaelic word "Midhe" which means "centre") was the ancient royal county of Ireland during the Neolithic and Celtic periods and the seat of the country's High Kings at the Hill of Tara.

The Council's second motion calls on the EPA to not allow the experimental growing of any GMO seeds or crops in Ireland.

Both motions were tabled by Green Party Councillor Tom Kelly. Councillors said that the EPA's decision would produce experimental transgenic potatoes that could not be placed on the market either as animal feed or food, and that the EPA and BASF failed to apply for the planning permission that is consequently required by law for re-zoning the farmland from agricultural to development use. They also said the legal requirement imposed by the EPA for BASF to protect the site with a high-security electrical fence does not conform with normal agricultural practice under Section 5 of the Planning Act.

Frank Corcoran, Chairman of An Taisce (the National Trust for Ireland), said the Meath Co. Council decisions will trigger a lengthy legal procedure that will effectively prevent the release of GMO crops in Meath for the foreseeable future.

Common sense and local democracy

Irish whiskey and Guinness were flowing last night as farmers, food producers, chefs and consumers celebrated the decision as a victory for common sense and local democracy. Michael O'Callaghan, co-ordinator of the GM-free Ireland Network which lobbied the Meath Co. Council extensively in advance of the EPA decision, said he was thrilled the Local Authority has taken responsibility to protect the County from an irreversible invasion of GM crops for which there is no market in Europe.

GMO crops are banned or restricted by six EU governments, and thousands of local areas across Europe.

Michael O'Callaghan said "Meath Co. Council has shown the wisdom of the subsidiarity principle, whereby political decisions on GM farming are best taken democratically at the local level by the farmers and citizens who will be affected by them, rather than by unaccountable bureaucrats in Dublin, the European Commission in Brussels, and the WTO in Geneva. My grandfather was a member of the first D·il (Irish Government) which won independence and self-determination for the Irish people; he would be furious at our current government's policy to introduce patented GMO seeds and crops -- a new form of corporate biological colonialism that would be be impossible to reverse".

Commenting from Berlin on Meath Co. Council's decision, Benedikt Haerlin, who organises the annual European GMO-free Regions conference, said the EC's policy to force member states and regions to accept contamination of agricultural seeds and crops by GMOs is fundamentally and legally flawed. "We welcome Co. Meath's initative which is backed by 175 regions and 3,500 local authorities in 22 EU member states" he said.

Press conference at European Commission Office, 10am Wednesday 10 May in Dublin:
call for Ireland to conserve its GMO-free status

The GM-free Ireland Network will host a press conference at the European Commission Office in Dublin at 10 am tomorrow (Wednesday 10 May), kicking off a series of European Day debates in the Dáil (Irish Parliament), including a speech by EC Agriculture and Rural Development Commissioner Mariann Fischer-Boel.

Politicians at the press conference will call for the whole island of Ireland to be declared a GMO-free biosphere reserve for the food security of other EU member states, and demand EU legislation that recognises the democratic right of member states and regions to prohibit GMO seeds and crops if they choose to do so.

Confirmed speakers include Kathy Sinnott MEP (Independent), Marian Harkin MEP (Independent), Green Party leader Trevor Sargent TD, Mary Upton TD (Labour Party spokesperson on Agriculture and Food), Michael Mulcahy TD (Fianna Fáil - Government Convener on the Joint Oireachtas Committee on European Affairs and former Lord Mayor of Dublin), Eddie Punch (General Secretary of the Irish Cattle and Sheepfarmers Association), and Michael O'Callaghan of GM-free Ireland. Senator James Bannon (Fine Gael Spokesperson on Environment, Local Government and Heritage in the Upper House and General Secretary of the Local Authority Members Association) may also attend.

8 May 2006

Sargent calls on Govt to respect Meath Council decision to declare county as GM free zone

Green Party press release, 8 May 2006. Green Party Leader Trevor Sargent TD today congratulated Meath County Council on its unanimous decision to declare the county a GM free zone. Last Friday 5 May 2006 the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) gave the green light to German chemical company BASFto carry out a GM potato growing trial at Summerhill, Co Meath.

Deputy Sargent said today that, "The unanimous decision by Meath County Council to declare the county a GM free zone highlights the irrational and undemocratic nature of the EPA decision to permit a GM potato growing trial in Ireland.

"I have spoken to a number of farmers from Meath and my own neighbouring Dublin North constituency who are furious at the EPA for going along with this BASF plan to grow GM potatoes in Ireland. Irish farmers join with Irish consumers in saying we will not stand idly by and watch the green clean GM-free image which helps sell Irish food be destroyed by the commercial colonisation of BASF.

"This Meath County Council decision gives a renewed democratic mandate to this campaign - which the Green Party fully supports - to ensure that Irish agriculture can develop and thrive as green, clean and GM free - as consumers are demanding."

Ireland Gives Go-Ahead for GMO Potato Trials

Reuters, 8 May 2006.

DUBLIN - Ireland, Europe's biggest per capita consumer of potatoes, has given the go-ahead for a German company to grow varieties of the crop that have been genetically modified to resist disease.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) gave its consent to BASF Plant Science GmbH on Friday to carry out field trials on potatoes that have been modified with improved resistance to late potato blight, the disease that caused the Irish potato famine.

"This consent is for field trials only and should not be confused with the placing of GM products on the market, which requires a separate consent and approval process at EU level," the EPA said in a statement.

"Potatoes (GM or non-GM) harvested from the field trials will not be used for food or feed purposes," it added.

One million people died and two million were forced to leave Ireland in the 1840s when potato blight caused widespread famine. Today, the Irish eat some 121 kg of potatoes per person every year, or nearly 1,000 potatoes for every man, woman and child.

Previous trials of GMO foods in Ireland have been disrupted by environmentalists who pulled up crops and damaged fields.

GM-free Ireland, an organisation campaigning against genetic food engineering, invited farmers, food producers, consumers, and politicians to an emergency meeting on Friday to decide what legal steps it could take to prevent the experiment.

Irish Green Party leader Trevor Sargent said the decision threatened the country's traditional GMO-free status which he said was a key selling point for the country's food exporters.

"Life is hard enough for farmers who are seeing less and less demand for potatoes and a growing preference for ready made meals," he said. "Farmers need this GM trial like a hole in the head."

Blight-resistant GMO potatoes were first developed in 2003 after scientists discovered a species of wild potato in Mexico that is naturally resistant to the disease, then inserted the gene into commercial strains.

The field trials will be carried out at one location at County Meath and the trial site will not exceed 1 hectare (2.5 acres) in size. The experiment will last for five years from 2006 to 2010 (inclusive), with monitoring continuing until 2014.

6 May 2006

Germans get go ahead to grow Ireland's first GM potatoes

Daily Mail Ireland, 6 May 2006. By John Breslin.

A German company was yesterday granted permission to plant a field with genetically modified potatoes in Co. Meath.

BASF Plant Science will carry out trials on the one-acre site at Arodstown, Summerhill, over the next five years to determine if the GM potatoes have an increased resistance to blight.

It will be the first time GM crops have been grown in Ireland since 1988, when American chemical company Monsanto abandoned its experiments on modified beet in Carlow following a campaign by activists.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has insisted on a 40 meter wide buffer zone to stop cross contamination of other potato crops in the area.

At the first sign of any effect on the wider environment or contamination of crops, the plug will be pulled on the five-year trials for hundreds of lines of potatoes that the company hopes will be more resistant to late blight, which costs farmers here €10 million annually.

The EPA said the trials would be subject to strict conditions, with regular monitoring by inspectors.

"The trials can be modified, suspended or terminated by the EPA at any time if new information comes to light" said a spokesman.

The EPA spokesman said the consent was for field trials only and should not be confused with the placing of GM products on the market, which required a separate consent and approval process at EU level.

"Potatoes (GM or non-GM) harvested from the field trials will not be used for food or feed purposes", she said. Many environmental activists oppose GM food trials because they fear that it might lead to cross-contamination of other crops.

The decision to give the go-ahead has been greeted with dismay by anti-GM campaigners, some local farmers and politicans, and the country's leading chefs, who gathered for a protest meeting in a hotel in Navan last night.

Legal action, including the possibility of pushing for a judicial review of the decision, is likely.

"Ireland is being used as a guinea pig," said Michael O'Callaghan of the GM-free Ireland Network. Protesters have called for the island of Ireland to be designated completely GM free.

They are worried about the effects on the environment, cross-contamination, the long-term health effects, and the dangers that large elements of the food supply will in time be dominated by a small number of companies, mostly chemical giants.

They believe BASF will market its product as one grown in Ireland, a country prone to potato blight.

BASF, one of the largest chemicals companies in the world, said last night it was reviewing the EPA authorisation and would make a final decision within the next few days on whether to go ahead with the trials.

Padraig Larkin, the EPA's deputy director general, said the agency agreed with BASF's assessment that there is little risk to the environment of human health but has promised the trials will be closely monitored and shut down at the first sign of anything untoward. The EPA said none of the potatoes will be used as food or feed.

Local politicians have also come out against the approval of the trials. Independent Councillor Philip Cantwell said: "Why are they here, why don't they just grown them in Germany?

Food for thought

Daily Mail Ireland Comment, 6 May 2006

The very fact that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has erected such an array of safeguards around the just-approved GM potato trial in Co. Meath tells us how potentially dangerous this area of science is.

BASF Plant Science, a German company, has been given permission to test genetically modified potatoes in a one-acre field in Co. Meath. The idea is to discover whether these GM potatoes are more resistant to blight than naturally grown ones.

However the EPA has told the German firm that the trial can be cancelled or suspended at any time. The company has been asked to carry out stringent checks to ensure that there is no pollen flow to nearby crops. And before the trials were approved a series of questions had to be answered, and re-answered, by BASF.

To repeat these safeguards only confirm how risky the science of genetically modified foods is and why we need to be wary of it.

The foods we eat have all evolved through natural processes over millions of years. That is to say, our foods are modified by nature, not man. Even when man cross-breeds one plant with another, he is still not tampering with the very blueprint of life to anything like the extent these GM companies are.

We should tamper with the blueprint of life only slowly, and carefully, if at all.

GM potato crop trial gets green light

Irish Independent, 6 May 2006. By Aideen Sheehan.

OPPONENTS of genetically modified (GM) crops held an emergency meeting in Co Meath last night to protest at the decision to give the go-ahead to a field trial of GM potatoes.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced yesterday that German company BASF will be allowed to do a five-year field trial on potatoes engineered for resistance to potato blight.

This provoked an angry reaction from opponents of the technology who had bombarded the EPA with objections to the trial going ahead. The EPA said their consent was subject to stringent conditions and monitoring and the potatoes grown would not be used for food or feed or placed on the market.

The GM potatoes will be grown on a one-hectare site at Arodstown, Summerhill, Co Meath, between now and 2010 and post trial monitoring will continue until 2014.

The EPA said they had consulted widely with all relevant state agencies, including the Food Safety Authority of Ireland, before making a decision, and assessed all 96 submissions on the application, of which 95 were hostile.

The trial would be a huge blow to Ireland's traditional GM-free status and those growing potatoes in Co Meath and neighbouring counties, said Green Party leader Trevor Sargent.

"Farmers need this GM trial like a hole in the head," he said.

GM-Free Ireland spokesman Michael O'Callaghan slated the "premature" decision to give the go-ahead to the trial, given the doubts expressed by EU Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas over safety assessment of GM foods, and said they would consider taking an injunction against it.

The group held an emergency meeting with farmers, politicians and restaurateurs in Navan last night to discuss what their legal options might be to prevent the GM experiment going ahead in Co Meath.

The EPA was going against the weight of public opinion by allowing multinationals ride roughshod over their best interests, said Sinn Féin TD Martin Ferris.

Farmers and consumers will pay the price for what is possibly the worst decision ever made by the EPA, said the Irish Cattle and Sheep Farmers' Association.

"It's a scandal. This decision is wrong on so many levels. Science has not yet determined the effects that GM crops could have on consumer health.

"All surrounding farms are now extremely vulnerable to contamination," said the ICSA's rural spokesman, John Flynn.

Environmental agency allows GM potato trials on Meath farm

The Irish Times, 6 May 2006. By Tim O'Brien

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has given its consent for field trials of genetically modified potatoes to begin on a farm in Co Meath.

The farm where the trials are to take place is at Arodstown, near Summerhill, where a one-hectare site is to be used to develop a more blight-resistant potato.

Field trials of genetically modified foods have not been licensed in the Republic since 1998 when an experiment in Co Carlow ended with protesters destroying the plants.

The decision to license a new trial has angered environmentalists and some farmers as well as food producers who have campaigned to keep Ireland free from genetically modified (GM) foods.

The company planning to carry out the trials is German firm BASF Plant Science GmbH, an affiliate of the German multi-national BASF which had sales of almost §43 billion in 2005.

Announcing its decision yesterday, the EPA said the permission was for field trials only, and should not be confused with permission to place genetically modified products on the market.

Potatoes harvested from the trials may not be used for food for either humans or animals.

However, the organisation GM Free Ireland has claimed the experiment could undermine the Republic's food marketing drive, the catchline of which is "Ireland - the food island".

Spokesman Michael O'Callaghan organised a protest meeting in Navan, Co Meath, for last night, but he appeared to dismiss any form of direct action by protesters, saying it would be "only a palliative measure".

A legislative ban on GM testing was required, he maintained, pointing out that as many as seven European countries and 175 regional governments across 22 EU member states had declared themselves GM-free.

He said field trials posed serious practical difficulties due to possible "contamination" of surrounding crops.

The implications for neighbouring farmers' crops - and the fact that the GM crops are patented - could lead to a situation where GM crop owners laid claim to the crops of neighbouring farmers, he said.

Farmers were also concerned that the presence of GM crops could detrimentally affect the price of farmland in the region, he said.

John Flynn of the Irish Cattle and Sheep Farmers' Association said the decision to license the trials was "a disgrace".

"This decision is wrong on so many levels. Science has not yet determined the effects that GM crops could have on consumer health," he said.

"All surrounding farms are now extremely vulnerable to contamination and most importantly, the EPA has just compromised Ireland's clean green image.

"This is possibly the worst decision that this agency has ever made, and all farmers and consumers will pay the price," Mr Flynn said.

5 May 2006

EPA decision on GM crops flies in the face of local democracy - Reilly

Sinn Féin press release, 5 May, 2006

Meath West Sinn Féin candidate for the general election Councillor Joe Reilly has slammed the decision of the Environmental Protection Agency to grant permission to German company BASF to grow a crop of genetically modified potatoes at Summerhill in County Meath. Councillor Reilly said the decision flies in the face of local democracy as the two neighbouring Council areas, both of whom have voted to declare their areas GM free, will now be exposed to GM crops.

Councillor Reilly said, "The decision of the EPA is an absolute disgrace and flies in the face of local democracy. The two neighbouring local authorities to Summerhill, Cavan County Council and Navan Town Council, have both democratically declared their areas GM free and will now be exposed to GM crops through the risk of cross contamination. Once again a statutory body in this state has sided with the multi national corporations against the expressed wishes and the best interests of the people.

"The issue of GM crops is due to be discussed at the Meath County Council meeting on Monday evening and I will be expressing my outrage at this decision and calling on other councillors to support the GM free group that have been lobbying strongly against this decision lately. I am also calling on the progressive farmers and farming organisations to express their opposition to GM crops as it is not in the interest of the agricultural sectors. The people who will benefit from this is the multi national corporation."

5 May 2006

Martin Ferris slams decision to allow GM crop trials

Sinn Féin press release, 5 May 2006.

Sinn Féin Spokesperson on Agriculture, Martin Ferris TD has slammed the decision by the Environmental Protection Agency to give permission for the German company BASF to grow a crop of genetically modified potatoes at Summerhill, County Meath. The decision was made despite numerous objections from local residents and farmers, and from others with scientific knowledge of the dangers of contamination which GM crops pose to traditional and organic varieties.

Deputy Ferris said: "The EPA decision is a disgrace. Once again a statutory body in this state has gone against the weight of public opinion and scientific evidence on cross contamination of crops, to allow the multi national corporations to ride roughshod over the wishes and best interests of Irish farmers and consumers. As I have pointed out on numerous occasions, there has never been a proper debate here, nor has any elected body ever voted in favour of introducing GM crops or food products. In fact many elected bodies, including Cavan County Council and Navan UDC have voted to declare their areas GM free."

"The question must be posed therefore, in whose interests are these decisions being made? And on what criteria? It would appear to myself and others that this state is simply following the EU's dishonest caving in to enormous pressure from the United States to allow the GM corporations to tighten their grip on the food chain. Those who suffer will be Irish farmers and consumers."

GM opponents slam decision to allow Meath trials

Opponents of GM foods have slammed the Environmental Protection Agency's decision to allow trials of genetically-modified potatoes in Co Meath.

The crops are due to be planted in Arodstown on a five-year trial basis by the German chemical firm BASF.

The campaign group GM Free Ireland said today that the decision was expected, but was still a major disappointment.

Spokesman Michael O'Callaghan said the EPA had received advice against the move from some of the leading GM experts in the world, who said it would destroy Ireland's green image and pose a safety threat to the local community.

He also said there was no market for GM foods in Europe as consumer opposition had forced the leading brands to shy away from the products.

EPA approves controversial GM potato trials in Meath

Irish Independent, 5 May 2006.

The Environmental Protection Agency has approved controversial plans to grow genetically modified potatoes in Co Meath.

The five-year trials by the German chemical firm BASF are due to take place in Arodstown, near the Teagasc research centre in Summerhill.

The potatoes will not be allowed on the market as this would require further consent and approval at EU level.

The EPA says the company will have to adhere to 10 conditions and the trials will be monitored by the agency on a continuing basis.

However, the trials are still likely to be widely opposed by local farmers and environmental campaigners.

The EPA received dozens of submissions opposing the plan when BASF first applied for permission earlier this year.

Farmers also expressed concern about the GM potatoes contaminating their crops, while doctors said the health risks associated with GM food had still not been fully examined.

3 May 2006

Farmers ask council to ban GM trials

The Meath Chronicle, 3 May 2006. By Christina Hession.

A NUMBER of farmers in the Summerhill area are to formally request Meath County Council to pass a motion prohibiting the cultivation of genetically modified (GMO) seeds and crops in Meath.

The landowners are also asking the local authority to exclude county council funding for the procurement of food containing GM ingredients and to prohibit the transportation of live GMO seeds (including rape seed approved for animal feed) on roads in its jurisdiction.

At an emergency meeting in Summerhill last week, local farmers expressed concern about the economic impacts of GMO contamination on the future of Irish farming.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has received 96 submissions from the public, of which all but one oppose the proposed five-year experiment with 450,000 patented genetically modified potatoes near Summerhill. The GM experiment is thought likely to get the go-ahead in coming weeks.

Jim Cosgrave, a drystock and tillage farm from Enfield, said farmers who become contaminated by GM potatoes or GM superweeds would not only face patent issues, but would also face mandatory GM labelling, loss of market share and a significant drop in the property value of their land.

According to the GM-Free Ireland Network, which organised the meeting, the local community is worried about the fact that farmers who become contaminated by the patented potatoes may lose ownership of their crops. They are also worried about the scientific evidence of health and environmental risks and a threatened boycott of Irish potatoes if the experiment goes ahead.

BASF Plant Science GmbH, a subsidiary of the world's largest chemicals company, notified the EPA on 13th January last of its intention to conduct the open air experiment to test the GMO potatoes, which have been modified with DNA from viruses, bacteria and a Mexican wild potato relative to make them more blight-resistant.

The experiment will take place on a farm at Arodstown from this month to October 2010. Under the EC's precautionary rules for GMO trials, the EPA has 28 days to approve or reject the application. Failure to do so provides the applicant with an automatic go ahead. The current deadline for the EPA's decision is Friday 12th May.

The GM-Free Ireland Network is hosting another meeting in the Newgrange Hotel, Navan, this Friday night at 8pm. It has indicated that over 5,000 citizens have signed a petition requesting the Government to join other EU countries with a blanket ban on GM seeds and crops.

Michael O'Callaghan of the GM-Free Ireland Network said it was clearly in the economic, health and environmental interest of Meath farmers and consumers to prevent the GMO potato experiment from going ahead. "So long as this Government continues to put the interests of trans-national biotech companies before the food security of its own citizens by failing to prohibit all GMO seeds and crops, it is up to local communities and county councils to take responsibility."

Emergency meeting held in Trim over GM controversy

The Meath Chronicle, 3 May 2006.

IN THE global controversy over corporate control of agricultural seeds, crops and food, an emergency community meeting was held last week in Summerhill, Co Meath.

The village is next door to the site of a proposed five-year experiment with 450,000 patented genetically modified (GMO) potatoes. The stated purpose is to test the GMO spuds, which have been modified with DNA from viruses, bacteria and a Mexican wild potato relative to make them more blight resistant - even though varieties of blight-resistant spuds are already available in Ireland.

Some residents in the local community say they are worried about the fact that farmers who become contaminated by the patented potatoes may lose ownership of their crops.

They are also worried about the scientific evidence of health and environmental risks, the impact on property values, and a threatened boycott of Irish potatoes if the experiment goes ahead (the EPA will decide sometime in mid-May).

A single gust of wind or insect carrying pollen from the GMO spuds is all it takes for contamination that would be "impossible to reverse for thousands of years to come", say some anti-GM campaigners.

BASF Plant Science GmbH, a subsidiary of the world's largest chemicals company BASF, notified the EPA on 13th January of its intention to conduct the open-air experiment on a farm at Arodstown, next to the Teagasc Grange Research Centre in Summerhill. Teagasc denies it owns the land. The EPA refused to reveal the exact location of the site, but it is believed the land belongs to a retired Fianna Fáil councillor from Co Louth.

Meanwhile, BASF wants to run the experiment from May 2006 to October 2010. Under the EC's "positive but precautionary" rules for GMO field trials, the EPA has 28 days to approve or reject the application; failure to do so provides the applicant with an automatic go ahead.

But Kathryn Marsh, a member of the EPA's GMO Advisory Committee who spoke at the meeting last week, indicated the BASF notification was vague and that the EPA has already stopped the clock five times to request more information from BASF. The current deadline for the EPA's decision is 12th May.

The GM-free Ireland Network, which hosted the meeting, screened the first half of a documentary film called 'The Future of Food' as part of its national campaign to inform local communities about the risks of GMO seeds and crops.

Over 5,000 citizens have signed a petition requesting the Government to join other EU countries with a blanket ban on GM seeds and crops. The petition can be signed online at http://www.gmfreeireland.org

23 March 2006

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