Sir, I must vehemently take Mr Justice John Brophy to task for his remarks when sentencing a colleague, Mr Maurice Regan, to six months imprisonment for distributing growth-promotion hormones for use in cattle. No one condones or excuses Mr Regan's behaviour, but let us be realistic about the seriousness of his offence.
Growth promoters were quite legal for use in this country up to the late 1980s and indeed are still legal, and in widespread use, in most cattle-producing countries outside the EU. In the US, the Food and Drug Administration (probably the strictest licensing authority in the world) has declared them safe. These growth promoters were only prohibited in the EU because of strong consumer resistance - led by the "Greens" - not for any scientific reasons.
To compare this errant veterinarian to "drug barons who supplied heroin and crack cocaine" which have killed hundreds of young people in this city and country, and devastated the lives of thousands more, is nothing short of a disgrace. - Yours, etc.,
Offington Park, Sutton, Dublin 13.