GM potato trial gets underway despite protests

National agri research and training body Teagasc has begun its outdoor trials to grow genetically modified, blight-resistant potatoes at its facility in Oakpark, Co Carlow.

Several anti-GM groups have protested against the proposed potato planting trial, a licence for which was formally approved by the Environmental Protection Agency in July. The potatoes have now been planted outdoors, having been developed indoors until now.

A spokesperson for Teagasc said: “Since we were granted the license in July, Teagasc have been working to meet the stringent license conditions laid down by the EPA. Once this was achieved, the EPA gave consent to Teagasc to proceed and as a result we were able to transplant the cisgenic potatoes out into the 10-metre by 10-metre plot on Monday.

“A total of 24 cisgenic potato plants were planted, along with a similar number of non-cisgenic plants to act as controls. Although late in the season, the continuing risk of blight provides an opportunity to complete the initial research required for the project and to begin evaluating the ‘blight response’ of the potato to Irish blight strains.”

On Tuesday, a protest group entitled no2gm sought to launch a High Court action to prevent Teagasc’s trial taking place, specifically seeking to limit their own eventual legal costs of taking a court action. A group of 10 other concerned citizens also brought similar applications before the High Court.

All of these applicants sought to invoke citizen rights as set down by the Aarhus convention, namely to take an “an environmental case without it being prohibitively expensive for the challenger”. The court rejected this application.

Malcolm Noonan, a member of the group and the Green Party’s environment spokesman, said the fact Teagasc had already started field trials was “an appalling breach of trust”.