Sir, - In recent days I have received a rapid education in matters agricultural. The killing and burning of Irish cattle while Kenyans die of hunger now looks even less justifiable. The decision to kill all cattle over 30 months of age is a price support/commercial agreement, not a medical one. It was the EU agriculture ministers, not health ministers, who agreed the deal.
It will cost every person in Ireland £100 to kill the cattle, plus another £200 per person from EU funds.
There is a test for BSE on dead cattle so it is simple to eliminate any problem. You could then label the clean beef as BSE-tested.
There are no medical reasons to kill Irish beef cattle aged between 30 and 40 months. That is the same quality beef we are eating today. Many people say it is wrong to ship beef we would not eat ourselves to starving people - all right, let's not do it. Ship only prime beef that is BSE-tested. Of 7,000 such beef cattle killed last week none tested positive for BSE.
As well as being given information I have also been told of the obstacles and problems surrounding the idea of delivering Irish beef to Kenya and Ethiopia. Some of the problems are put forward by David Beggs of Concern (January 10th). Wrong attitude. There is fresh pure meat available at no cost in Ireland. There are thousands who will die because that meat is burned instead of being shipped to Africa. - Yours, etc.,
John Teeling, Clontarf, Dublin 3.