Sir, - Shock waves, your agricultural correspondent reported, reverberated throughout the beef industry this week after the fining of "respected" and "prominent" beef farmers who were found guilty of endangering human health for money. Why?
After all, drug pushers get jail for selling drugs to people who want to use them. Beef eaters, on the other hand, do not want to ingest "cocktails" of illegal drugs with their meat.
Add to this the danger of putting our single most important export into jeopardy. The fact that these "enemies of the people" live on St. Stephen's Green or have aged mothers is irrelevant.
Falling beef sales started not with the BSE scare, but with the worry about the quality of meat.
Yours, etc.,
Warrenhouse Road,
Baldoyle,
Dublin 13.