Sir. From the short report on the annual convention of the Green Party (May 6th) it is hard to understand what Nuala Ahern MEP, is trying to say about Ireland's role respecting the effects of the Chernobyl disaster. She is reported to have said that Ireland, through the Radiological Protection Institute (RPII), is participating in the "official denial" (sic) surrounding the effects of the Chernobyl accident. I attended the conference on Chernobyl, held recently, and certainly did not get the impression of any denial from the speakers, many of whom were from the RPII. On the contrary, we heard a great deal about many hundreds of cases of thyroid cancer that have occurred or will occur. At the conference, Ms Ahern herself used up a considerable amount of the discussion time on the main paper in an unconvincing attempt to rubbish the speaker, but now it seems that she is widening her attack to include the RPII as well.
Since shortly after the Chernobyl accident the RPII has been regularly publishing reports on the resulting radiation levels in this country. The institute performs extensive monitoring of the environment, the results of which are widely publicised. The monitoring programme is designed to detect radiation from wherever it originates, whether it be from Chernobyl, nuclear weapon testing or Sellafield. Ms Ahern asks how can we have confidence that RPII will monitor the effects of radiation in Ireland from any source, including Sellafield. Perhaps, from her own expert knowledge, Ms Ahern may be aware of effects originating from Sellafield that are not being monitored if so, no doubt she will be good to inform the public. Until then, I for one will remain confident that the RPII's current monitoring programme is the right one. Yours, etc., Knocksinna Crescent, Dublin 18.