Memories of a visit to Ireland tainted by acts of barbarism
I have heard the finest traditional Irish music, walked the most magnificent footpaths around the country, and all this against a backdrop of wonderful weather. A trip indeed to remember.
But I leave saddened and angered by a story that I heard from a farmer an eldest son who took over his father's prime breeding stock of cattle.
He's a proud man a man of the earth one of Ireland's finest. He has spent the past month coming to terms with the dramatic disintegration of everything that he and his family have stood for. I heard their story of the discovery of a cow diagnosed with BSE.
The consequences of this are apparently harsher in Ireland than anywhere else in the EU. His entire livestock (near to 400) were taken away and slaughtered breed stock built up over a century yet BSE is not contagious.
I saw a young son's photograph of his healthy, prime cow and six-month-old calf being taken away to be destroyed. I heard that even when the farmer finally gets compensation for the livestock (do we really call this compensation as though money can replace one's pride and history?) and restocks his field with cattle, the land is then regarded as contaminated and any milk produced is classed as second rate.
This proud man has stood alone in his anger and devastation. All arguments for these rules appear deeply flawed. Is Ireland really the only country that imposes such barbarism?
I am returning to my beloved country where people stood together against the evil of apartheid. I am extremely concerned about the future of Ireland, a country that I have come to love.
Where are the voices in Ireland that are standing up against this practice? In the words of Yeats: "Who shall stand?"
Prof Chris Breen,
South Africa.
