Sir, - Damian Byrne's tirade (April 27th) against the opponents of GM foods encapsulates the sheer wrong-headedness of the supporters of GM foods.
GM foods are being developed for commercial, not humanitarian, reasons. Developing countries that can't afford to buy conventional seeds, crops etc. will not be able to afford GM substitutes. Monsanto and other corporations are not developing GM crops with the intention of distributing them free of charge to the world's poor countries.
One of the oddest aspects of the GM debate is the degree to which supporters of GM seem naively unaware of the realities of modern capitalism. GM foods are not about feeding the world's hungry, expanding human potential or any of the other cod-inspirational claptrap pedalled by Monsanto et al. GM is fundamentally about profiting from absolute control of the world's food supply. - Yours, etc.,
Ciaran McKenna, Greenville Place Clanbrassil Street, Dublin 8.