Irish Examiner - 26-02-05
Government crosses the line

Dear Sir,
The Minister for the Environment has clashed with the European Commission over its decision to take legal action against Ireland for eight breaches of environment law", and the Minister reply was "the commission has very little understanding of our planning and judicial systems which are different to those used in Europe." We can only ask our Minister to acknowledge the serious risk that pollution poses to our food chain, animal, and human health, and to implement national siting standards for hazardous-waste management facilities before any agency can grant a licence to legally allow lead, cadmium, mercury emissions to billow from a waste incinerator every day and night over a radius of 40 miles.

We have learned that the agencies set up to protect public health and the environment do so only if it is not threatening to any corporation regardless of human health making it appear that the interest of people is of no consequence. The government employ incredibly highly paid consultants to rationalize fudging the truth, while refusing to do health studies or even to put systems in place to monitor health.

The judicial system is the last resort for the public in demanding accountability, if we lose sight of this, we are going to lose our democracy. It is in the area of the environment that the government has crossed the line from a trust in its people and democracy to a worship of technocracy and money, and has thrown human values to the wind.

Mary Mangan,
Fairy Hill,
Monkstown,
Co. Cork.