Upcoming Events

Dublin | Consumer Issues

no events match your query!

New Events

Dublin

no events posted in last week

Blog Feeds

Public Inquiry
Interested in maladministration. Estd. 2005

offsite link RTEs Sarah McInerney ? Fianna Fail?supporter? Anthony

offsite link Joe Duffy is dishonest and untrustworthy Anthony

offsite link Robert Watt complaint: Time for decision by SIPO Anthony

offsite link RTE in breach of its own editorial principles Anthony

offsite link Waiting for SIPO Anthony

Public Inquiry >>

Human Rights in Ireland
Promoting Human Rights in Ireland

Human Rights in Ireland >>

Lockdown Skeptics

The Daily Sceptic

offsite link Starmer?s Palestinian Pledge Exposes the West?s Moral Collapse Thu Jul 31, 2025 15:05 | Laura Perrins
The fact that either Britain or France would recognise a Palestinian state while Hamas still holds hostages sums up the moral rot at the heart of Europe, says Laura Perrins.
The post Starmer?s Palestinian Pledge Exposes the West?s Moral Collapse appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

offsite link ?Muhammad? Tops Baby Name Charts Again Thu Jul 31, 2025 13:00 | Richard Eldred
Muhammad is once again the most popular baby name for boys in England and Wales, in a year marked by a growing trend towards global, cross-cultural naming.
The post ?Muhammad? Tops Baby Name Charts Again appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

offsite link White House Warns Starmer: Stop Threatening US Tech Companies? Free Speech Thu Jul 31, 2025 11:00 | Toby Young
It looks increasingly likely that the sweeping censorship powers granted to Ofcom by the Online Safety Act will be raised in US-UK trade talks, as the Trump administration becomes increasingly concerned.
The post White House Warns Starmer: Stop Threatening US Tech Companies? Free Speech appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

offsite link Mainstream Naysayers Gather As Hopes Rise for Fourth Year of Record Coral on the Great Barrier Reef Thu Jul 31, 2025 09:00 | Chris Morrison
Despite three record years of coral growth, the mainstream media keeps pushing doom and gloom on the Great Barrier Reef ? a story that doesn't quite add up, says the Daily Sceptic's Environment Editor.
The post Mainstream Naysayers Gather As Hopes Rise for Fourth Year of Record Coral on the Great Barrier Reef appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

offsite link Unless Migrant Crime Is Happening to Them Personally, Many Brits Simply Refuse to Believe It Even Ex... Thu Jul 31, 2025 07:00 | Steven Tucker
Britain's migrant crimewave is only invisible to those living in leafy delusion ? just ask Steven Tucker, who rips into the blind elites mistaking burning mattresses for cultural enrichment.
The post Unless Migrant Crime Is Happening to Them Personally, Many Brits Simply Refuse to Believe It Even Exists ? Especially Our Blinkered Rulers appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

Lockdown Skeptics >>

Voltaire Network
Voltaire, international edition

offsite link Will intergovernmental institutions withstand the end of the "American Empire"?,... Sat Apr 05, 2025 07:15 | en

offsite link Voltaire, International Newsletter N?127 Sat Apr 05, 2025 06:38 | en

offsite link Disintegration of Western democracy begins in France Sat Apr 05, 2025 06:00 | en

offsite link Voltaire, International Newsletter N?126 Fri Mar 28, 2025 11:39 | en

offsite link The International Conference on Combating Anti-Semitism by Amichai Chikli and Na... Fri Mar 28, 2025 11:31 | en

Voltaire Network >>

Dublin - Event Notice
Thursday January 01 1970

Gathering Momentum: Stop GM! all Island meeting

category dublin | consumer issues | event notice author Thursday April 07, 2011 06:55author by Michael O'Callaghan - GM-free Ireland Networkauthor email moc at gmfreeireland dot org Report this post to the editors

Sunday 10 April, 10am-5pm, Dublin Food Coop, 12 New Market Square, Dublin 8

Will Ireland's new government ban GM crops? Will it introduce a GM-free label for farmers and food producers in the quality food market? The GM-free Ireland Network and Food Action invite all stakeholders north and south of the border to participate in this important community discussion about the future of food and farming on this island.

Background

The previous Irish government failed to implement its policy to ban field trials and cultivation of GM crops in the Republic, and to introduce the voluntary GM-free label that farmers and food processors need to compete in the growing international quality food market.

Just before leaving office, Fianna Fáil's Minister for Agriculture, Food and Fisheries, Brendan Smith, voted in favour of a dangerous EC proposal to allow contamination of the food chain with untested / unapproved GM ingredients. He also claimed that Ireland has changed its policy in favour of new GMOs in food and feed – without a mandate from the current government and the people of Ireland.

The new Fine Gael / Labour government has not declared its hand on the subject. But Fine Gael is very pro-GM. Their MEP Mairéad McGuinness (who is a member of the EU Parliament Agriculture Committee) tried (unsucessfully) to get the Parliament to support the cultivation of GM pharma crops that contaminate the food chain with industrial chemicals, agrofuels, and drugs!

Labour has made contradictory statements on the issue.

The Northern Ireland Assembly has no clear position on the subject – unlike our closest EU Regions Scotland and Wales and Brittany which oppose the cultivation of GM crops.

Meanwhile, unelected bureaucrats at the European Commission continue to rubberstamp approval of new GM seeds, animal feed and food - against the wishes of the vast majority of citizens. And the European Food Safety Authority keeps recommending these approvals based on secret risk assessment data provided by the applicant companies, without possibility of independent peer review - in blatant disregard of the scientific method!

Dr. Brian John, who will speak at the gathering on Sunday, recently convinced MEPs to call for the European Parliament to investigate EFSA for scientific fraud and for its revolving door with the GM chemical companies it is supposed to regulate.

Contamination of the Irish food chain with imported GM animal feed is an impediment to trade that effectively shuts our farmers and food producers out of the rapidly growing GM-free quality food markets in Europe and the USA.

But Fine Gael seems determined to fast-track new GM appprovals and to allow field trials and cultivation of GM crops that would contaminate this island forever.

Concerned stakeholders need to act now to keep the whole of this island off-limits to GM crops, and to develop a voluntary GM-free label that will provide Irish farmers, food producers and tourism operators with a truly unique selling point – the most credible GM-free food brand in Europe.

It is now time to harvest the growing momentum of concern among our citizens. We must protect the clean green reputation of Ireland - the food island!

Intended outcomes:

To facilitate networking and strategy co-ordination between stakeholders in the Republic and Northern Ireland;

To plan a programme of action to:

• focus public attention on GM food and farming issues in public fora and the national media;

• stimulate people's interest in the campaign for a GM-free Ireland;

• arouse their desire to participate;

• provide them with pathways for action;

• build political resistance to the WTO / corporate / Commission push for increasing contamination of the food chain with GMOs;

• lobby the Irish Government, Northern Ireland Assembly, European Commission and EU Parliament for a freeze on GM crops and new GMO approvals;

• secure an all-island ban on GM crops and introduce a voluntary GM-free Irish label that farmers and food processors need to retain access to the international quality food markets.

Confirmed speakers include Darina Allen (Slow Food Ireland), Dr. Brian John (GM-free Cymru), Dr. Ellzabeth Cullen and Juliet Duff (Irish Doctors Environmental Association), Josef Finke (Ballybrado Ltd), Richard Auler (Ladybird Organic Farm).

Who should attend:

Journalists, food writers, farmers, food producers, livestock exporters, policy makers, regulators, scientists, healthcare professionals, retailers, chefs, restaurateurs, hoteliers, community gardeners, social justice and environmental NGOs, faith-based organisations, educators, students, and concerned consumers.

Registration:

http://www.gmfreeireland.org/gathering-momentum/GMFI-DF...n.doc

Download the registration form, complete it, and email it to stopgm@riseup.net

We will provide lunch, and invite attendants to contribute a suggested donation of € 5.

Media enquiries:

Contact Michael O'Callaghan on + 41 79 948 5491.

Related Link: http://www.gmfreeireland.org/gatheringmomentum/

Caption: Video Id: V2COUl4vnP4 Type: Youtube Video
Food is our future: Keep Ireland GM Free


© 2001-2025 Independent Media Centre Ireland. Unless otherwise stated by the author, all content is free for non-commercial reuse, reprint, and rebroadcast, on the net and elsewhere. Opinions are those of the contributors and are not necessarily endorsed by Independent Media Centre Ireland. Disclaimer | Privacy