Sir, – During the caretaker Taoiseach’s recent visit to the White House he categorically stated that “we” – by this he must mean the people of Ireland – “are very big supporters” of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP).
Considering the fact that this deal is negotiated almost entirely in private, neither he nor the people of Ireland are well enough informed as to be in a position to lend our support to it.
If, as it has been widely rumoured, this trade agreement contains clauses on investor-state dispute settlement and regulatory convergence, it could have disastrous effects on our food safety, privacy, environment and indeed the very fabric of our democracy.
In that case it would be highly unlikely that the people would lend any support to it.
This pledge by Mr Kenny is just another instalment in a long litany of statements on behalf of the people which he has no right to make.
His cognitive dissonance must cease, in the name of democracy.
– Yours, etc,
DONAGH HUMPHREYS
Landsdowne,
Dublin 4.