Moves will be made in the High Court today to launch a legal challenge to a decision by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to allow trials on a genetically modified (GM) potato to be carried out.
Green Party councillor Malcolm Noonan said last night that he and a number of growers and producers would be seeking court approval to take the legal case.
He said they would be seeking the right to take the challenge under article 9 of the Aarhus Convention on environmental matters which was recently ratified by the Irish Government.
In July the EPA gave the farm body Teagasc the go-ahead to carry out trials on a GM potato designed to resist potato blight.
The consent was subject to eight conditions including management of the trials and reporting requirements.
Teagasc said at the time the field study would be isolated from the ongoing conventional potato-breeding programme. It said the project had no links to the biotechnology industry.
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