GENETIC Concern, the organisation set up to campaign against the planting of genetically modified sugar beet in Ireland, last week brought the debate to Carlow, the town which is on the doorstep of the controversial trial site at Oak Park.
About 30 people turned up at a public meeting, an indication that the issue has not, so far, sparked mass public concern in the area. But a number of local people pointed out that a petition against the experiment had been signed by several hundred Carlow people.
The purpose and potential hazards of the technology and the genetic modification of plants and organisms were discussed.
A persistent complaint concerned the lack of access to information, and the failure of the industry and the scientists involved to engage in frank public debate.
There were demands that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which granted the licence for the first field test of genetically engineered plants in Ireland, should fully justify its decision and face public questioning about it.
Speakers sought accountability from Monsanto, the chemical company sponsoring the trials, and from the scientists of Teagasc who were conducting them.
The meeting was addressed by Ms Beth Burrows, a persistent questioner of the biotechnology industry and director of the Washington-based Edmonds Institute, a non-profit organisation accredited to the Convention on Biological Diversity.
She pointed out that the US was not a signatory to this Convention.
"The biotechnology industry has manipulated the world's political, economic and legislative systems for its own profits," she said. "In terms of food production, the benefits to the environment and humankind are practically non-existent."
Ms Burrows described genetic engineering as "violent intervention into the structure of life in order to reshape it".
A questioner from the floor wanted to know the motivation of Teagasc and its contractual links with Monsanto in taking on the trial.
Another felt that as the modified seeds were believed to have been already planted, the damage had been done.
Mr John Browne TD, Fine Gael, was the only local Dail deputy to attend the meeting. He suggested that the concern about hazards was exaggerated.
"As a TD, I rely upon the EPA. It's their job," he said.
Responding to demands that foods containing genetically engineered products be labelled as such, Mr Browne said he was in favour of such labelling.
The meeting was the first of a "roadshow" series of public debates organised at various locations by Genetic Concern. A High Court judicial review of the EPA's decision to grant a licence for the experiment has been sought by Ms Clare Watson, a founder member of Genetic Concern, and the hearing is pending later this summer.