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Genetic Engineering hits the headlines Two years ago the campaign group Genetic Concern were told by an RTE reporter that genetic engineering was not a public issue. How times have changed! VOICE’s newspaper clippings file has swollen over the last few weeks as more and more pages about genetically engineered food appear in both the Irish and British papers. The sudden proliferation of media interest in this issue is quite staggering and enormously encouraging for the campaign against it. But the results of a recent Irish survey which revealed that 88% of the population say they no nothing or very little about genetic engineering is evidence that GE products have been foisted upon most of us unawares. Such lack of public awareness was key to the recent refusal by 20 organisations to continue partaking in Environment Minister Noel Dempsey’s proposed consultation days on the release of genetically engineered organisms into the environment. Designed to end the consultation process that the Minister started last year, the days were for debating the issue between a panel of eight and a wider audience. In VOICE’s opinion the debate format and the make up of the panel was inherently unfair, a view also held by 19 other organisations. The Minister had identified only four "stakeholders" for the purposes of the debate - the State, Industry, Academia and Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs). At a day organised for the NGOs to nominate two representatives to the panel, we unanimously agreed that we did not all belong in the same group. The organisations present included environmentalists, doctors, farmers, consumers, and food businesses. At the end of the day the 20 organisations jointly issued a statement to Minister Dempsey and to the press, calling for a wider consensus conference along the lines of those which have taken place in Norway and France. Key to these conferences is the involvement of a panel of laypeople who, like a jury in a court of law, hear all the evidence about the issue. The panel is briefed by a series of experts and then makes recommendations on foot of all that they have heard. In Norway part of the conference (which took place over a series of weekends) was televised for public awareness. Just what is needed in Ireland! The 20 organisations also expressed grave concern that the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment was to represent the State. This Department is absolutely in favour of genetic engineering while the Department of Health which stated in a letter to the Department of Environment that public health was a major concern, was not on the State panel. At time of going to press the 20 organisations are waiting to hear from the Minister as to what his intentions are. With the growing awareness about genetic engineering he cannot afford to exclude organisations such as VOICE from the debate on national policy formulation. The down side of national policy presently being "in consultation" is that come the summer more genetically engineered sugar beet will be planted at test sites. That is why the 20 organisations mentioned above have called for an immediate moratorium on the planting of GE crops in Ireland whilst policy is being decided. They have also called for immediate labelling of all GE foods presently on sale, an end to genetic engineering on animals and for Ireland to abstain on all EU votes pertaining to genetically modified organisms. Meanwhile the Sugar Beet Seven, including VOICE’s patron John Seymour, are facing charges of forced entry, occupation and criminal damage without lawful excuse at the New Ross District Court on Tuesday March 30th. They have been picked from amongst 50 people who attended a Good Food Fair in New Ross last year and who went to one of Monsanto’s test sites to inspect damage which had been done earlier that week. The seven will argue that they believed that the GE sugar beet posed a threat to the environment. For details of their case please see the VOICE website: http://www.voice.buz.org/genetic_engineering/seven.html