There was some consternation at the National Union of Journalists' Irish conference in the Royal Marine in Dun Laoghaire, Co Dublin last weekend. Dishes of Fox's Glacier Mints had been placed on the table to help the hacks survive the boring bits between meals but, horror of horrors, it eventually dawned on one of the more perceptive delegates that the mints are a Nestle product.
The NUJ boycotts everything Nestle produces because it promotes baby foods, at the expense of breast feeding, in Third World countries. Given the fact that so many delegates were already in clear violation of union policy, it was decided to let the polar bear sit.
Meanwhile upstairs, delegates to the biennial ICTU youth conference chewed cheerfully away on their mints while speakers railed against the evils of imperialism. Charitably, our reporter decided they had enough moral dilemmas to contend with, without drawing their attention to the mints.