Thalidomide picket on a.g.m.

Thalidomide compensation campaigners are to picket, Guinness's a.g.m

Thalidomide compensation campaigners are to picket, Guinness's a.g.m. in London on Thursday in pursuit of their claim for more money from the company.

The Thalidomide Action Group cancelled a planned visit to Dublin yesterday after its chairman, Mr Freddie Astbury who has no limbs because of the drug went into hospital in Peterborough in England at the weekend.

However, the group says it still plans to take the case for more compensation to Guinness in Dublin. The company, which took over the drug's manufacturers, Distillers, donated £37.5 million when it was realised existing compensation would run out within the lifetime of many victims.

The group says this is not enough and is pressing for a new form of tax exempt settlement. Its request to meet representatives of the company was turned down, as Guinness Ireland said it had nothing to do with the matter. The group was invited on a tour of the Guinness brewery.