Sir, - Your Agriculture Correspondent's report, "Minister assures Egypt on safety of Irish beef" (The Irish Times, December 1st) tells us of the attempts by the Minister of Agriculture, Mr Joe Walsh, to rescue Ireland's beef trade with that country, which included a telephone call to the Egyptian Deputy Prime Minister, Dr Gowelli.
Mr Walsh said he had "impressed on Dr Gowelli the importance of the trade to Ireland, the quality controls in place in the Republic, and the guarantees given to the consumers of Irish beef". May I suggest that Mr Walsh keep his fingers crossed that Dr Gowelli did not see a copy of your edition of that day, which contained a court report on the conviction of two farmers who, in an attempt to gain compensation under the TB eradication scheme, injected slurry into cattle so as to distort the accuracy of TB testing.
Both men received suspended prison sentences and were fined. - Yours, etc.,
Tom Cooper, Delaford Lawn, Dublin 16.