GRIAN may indeed be "small and obscure" to the IFA and the Labour Party. This has not prevented us from participating in the National Climate Strategy since 1998. This has not prevented us from being available to consult (in an entirely unpaid capacity) with at least six different government departments, including the Department of Agriculture on the same strategy, nor from participating intensively in government preparations for the Earth Summit over the last year or so.
Sir, - The Labour Party's fear (August 13th) that a number of "small but obscure" non-governmental organisations (NGOs) are to attend the Earth Summit gives good grounds to doubt that the main principles for sustainable development have still not been grasped by at least two of Ireland's larger and better-known institutions.
Since my group, GRIAN (Greenhouse Ireland Action Network Ltd.) was one of those recently singled out for attack by the Irish Farmer's Association (IFA) on the same grounds, presumably Jack Straw is referring to us. Perhaps we might be afforded an opportunity to reply.
The whole point of the agenda set ten years ago in Rio de Janeiro is that sustainability is founded on a) effective environmental protection and b) effective participation by what is known as "civil society" - NGOs representing the concerns and voices of ordinary people worldwide. GRIAN's mission is to perform this role in the twin battles against climate change and global poverty. Explicit reminders of the need for civil society representation were made by both EU commissioner Margot Walstrom and United Nations Environment Programme chief Klaus Topfer on recent visits to Dublin.
As one of those due to attend the summit, I would like to assure both the Labour Party and the IFA that I will be amongst those arguing very strongly for sound, effective and environmentally sustainable agricultural provisions in the final agreement. That this is apparently precisely what the IFA also wishes to see is very good news to us, and should be of reassurance to both that organisation and the Labour Party.
The IFA, to my knowledge, only expressed a first interest in the summit ten days ago. We are not so small or obscure that we cannot participate on an equal footing with the IFA within Comhar, the national sustainable development partnership.
If 30 years of recognised environmental expertise and experience is to be dismissed as "obscure" (with the implication that it is irrelevant), then Ireland indeed faces a problem with climate change, with the battle against worldwide poverty, and with its position at the forthcoming summit. Perhaps both the Labour Party and the IFA should reread the Rio principles and reassure themselves that there are sufficient challenges to be faced at the summit without Ireland bringing ill-informed faction fighting to the table. - Yours, etc.,
PAT FINNEGAN, Co-ordinator, GRIAN, Co Dublin