Madam, - Justin Kilcullen of Trócaire argues that "real fair trade should be our focus at WTO" (Opinion Analysis, July 17th). May I ask where he was when the IFA was marching down Kildare Street protesting against the WTO talks before the Lisbon Treaty vote?
When will NGOs realise that if they want to counterbalance the agricultural lobby at the WTO, they need to start taking on the farming lobby head-on here at home.
In short, the IFA plays hard ball. It is time our NGOs did the same. - Yours, etc,
AIDAN O'SULLIVAN, Longboat Quay North, Dublin 2.
Madam, - I was very interested to read the report in your edition of July 14th informing us that farmers paid just 1.3 per cent of the total income tax take in 2007, compared with 79 per cent for the PAYE sector.
These are the people who demand even more hand-outs from the taxpayers. Forty per cent of all tax levied by the EU goes to subsidise agriculture. It's long past time that the Government was prepared to take on the farming lobby, particularly since its greedy, self-interested opposition to the Lisbon Treaty. - Yours, etc,
JAMES MORAN, Knockanure, Bunclody, Co Wexford.