| Republican News · Thursday 16 January 2002
Food safety is a matter of great interest and concern to consumers throughout the island of Ireland. The number of reported foodborne infections is increasing and everyone has become aware of the seriousness of BSE, E. coli and other dangers. As lifestyles change, as the food chain lengthens and as ingredients are increasingly sourced on a global basis, the implications of any food crisis are multiplied and the role of public health authorities becomes more important. The Food Safety Promotion Board was set up under the terms of the Good Friday Agreement in December 1999 as one of the six implementation bodies. The board's mission statement is "to foster and maintain confidence in the food supply on the island of Ireland by working in partnership with others to protect and improve the public's health". Traditionally, food production has been a core industry in Ireland, both in the Six Counties and 26 Counties. It is a multi-billion euro industry, so in addition to being a body set up to protect the people on this island from foodborne illnesses, the FSPB was given the role of trying to prevent a food crisis, as this could be detrimental to both economies. The board has the responsibility of ensuring prompt, accurate and complete dissemination of information on national and international food alerts. The FSPB is the smallest of the bodies and employs just 30 staff. Anne Speed acts as Sinn Féin's representative on the board. "I would say that the FSPB is the most important of all the boards, despite being the smallest," Anne says. "Everybody, regardless of politics, religion or background, is affected by food safety. We are the only body that has the potential to reach the ordinary person on the street." On the entire island there are currently only three groups working to ensure food safety. The FSPB has the specific legislative authority and power to promote it. The other two groups, the Food Safety Authority of Ireland, and the Food Safety Authority of Northern Ireland and Britain, are enforcement agencies. "It has taken a lot of time for the two bodies to learn to work with each other," Anne says. " But we have had the most committed people on board from the very start. We've always felt really confident that this board could make some real changes on the island." "However we have been seriously hampered by the recent suspension. It has stalled the appointment of staff and this has curtailed our capabilities to continue with some of the successful campaigns we have been running and also to begin new projects that we had our eye on. All our members have remained very committed though." The FSPB has done a significant amount of good work so far. With an excellant scientific advisory team working parallel with the board, it has run a very successful advertising campaign, (all those 'Harry the Hat' ads, the ones where the little cartoon character tells you how to cook and store meat and so on, were the FSPB's). In addition to this, they made hundreds of thousands of leaflets available in supermarkets on the issue of food safety in the home last Christmas. "We have also set up a consumer help line, a website (http://www.safefoodonline.com), had stands at numerous food safety exhibitions, (such as at the Ploughing Championships), and we've had a poster competition through the school system. And these initiatives are just the tip of the iceberg," Anne says. "Last year, we made some great contributions to the industry. The health minister commisioned a report from us on the effects of stimulant drinks, such as Red Bull, and that was well received. We also produced a directory of laboratory services. There are over 60 laboratories in Ireland and we were the first group to bring out a publication that lists them all. "We also recognised the importance of nutrition in a person's diet so we had universities from the Six and 26 Counties survey the consumption of food on an all-island basis. It was the first study of its kind and managed to successfully bring a large number of universities and colleges together on an interesting joint project. The board has recently appointed a head of communications, who was formerly employed with the ESB, with the aim of promoting the board's media status. "We had a lot planned for 2003," Anne says. "We were looking at setting up a laboratory in Ireland to study food borne illnesses specifically. At the moment if there is an outbreak in Ireland, the center at Collingdale in Britain deals with it. This was something that we had planned to discuss more this year." The FSPB is hoping that this year the Department of Health and Children will nominate it to represent Ireland on the new European Food Safety Authority that has just been established. "Our reports don't find their way into the hands of men and women on the street but they do directly affect them," Anne argues. "Everybody wants to have confidence in what they've just ordered in a restaurant or a takeaway, or in food that they have just cooked, and we can help them achieve this confidence by publicising what has to be done to maintain an acceptable level of food safety standards."
Ignored since God went to primary school
On the banks of the Foyle Estuary and Carlingford Lough, two communities have been neglected for many years. Neither the Estuary Lough or the Carlingford Lough have ever held much interest for either the Six County or 26 Country administrations, and as a result, have never had their true potential developed. The communities on their shores have suffered as a result of their natural resources being ignored. The Foyle Carlingford and Irish Lights Commission was set up by the North South Ministerial Council under the Good Friday Agreement to help develop the two Loughs, and the surrounding communities, and to take-over as the General Lighthouse Authority for Ireland. Sinn Féin TD Arthur Morgan has represented Sinn Féin on this implementation body. "The FCILC is probably the only Implementation Body that is more cross-border than all-Ireland because it deals specifically with the two Loughs and their immediate environs," Arthur says. "Basically, the plan was to exercise our functions through two agencies. The development of the Foyle and Carlingford Areas is now exercised through the Loughs Agency, which has replaced the Foyle Fisheries Commission and which is now responsible for the management and development of the Foyle Estuary and Carlingford Lough. The potential for development in the Loughs is enormous. This is mainly because of a complete lack of development by either government in this area since God went to primary school." The setting up of the second agency has been much slower. It was intended that the FCILC would be the General Lighthouse Authority for all of Ireland and when established it would replace the Commissioners of Irish Lights, but the board has been hampered from the start by a lack of adequate legislation. The enabling legislation required to bring forward the regulation to develop the two Loughs has also not yet been established. The delay in initiating the legislative requirement lies with the Attorney General's Office in Dublin.
Successes Within its limited capacity, the FCILC has done its best for the Foyle and Carlingford communities. It has been given responsibility for the sustainable development of the marine (ie. fisheries, aquaculture and water quality) and marine tourism resources of Lough Foyle and Carlingford Lough, and has done its utmost to develop these two areas. During the last two years, customers in both the Foyle and Carlingford areas were approached directly or through public advertisement for opinion on how effective consultation could be achieved. In 2000, field staff undertook work on detecting and preventing pollution in the Loughs. The board is still trying to attain the legislation for the protection of the fisheries of the Foyle between Strabane, Lifford, and Lough Foyle, as these require significant attention during the summer period, when adult salmon migrate into the system. With Ireland's sea fishing industry increasingly under threat from Europe, the development and protection of inland fishing cannot be overemphasised. "We have completed a new salmon courting and trapping facility on the River Finn at Killygordon through the assistance of the EU Tourism Angling Measure and the International Fund for Ireland," Arthur says. "We have also completed a new fish pass at Ballyarten Weir on the river Faughan under the EU Special Programme for Peace & Reconciliation." The Board has managed to force the two departments in the Six Counties and 26 Counties to develop an all-Ireland policy on mussels and hopes to follow through with an all-Ireland monitoring project on salmon policy. other of the board's successes has been the establishment of a development facility in Derry, which Arthur says will be an "outstanding asset, particularly in terms of educating schoolchildren about the Loughs. "We will be able to explain things like the danger of spreading fertiliser near Loughs, the various species of fish in the Loughs and the importance of the ecology to the children, many of whom will have grown up with the Loughs but have never realised their significance."
Hands tied However, the board's capacity to effect change is, as always, quite limited. "The mussel and oyster industries could offer considerable processing and export opportunities and wild salmon is only now beginning to realise its true value as a premium product," Arthur says. "In addition to this we have found that marine tourism is almost non-existent in either Lough. We are trying to tie this type of activity into tourist infrastructure like B&Bs and hotels onshore. In terms of Sinn Féin's All-Ireland Agenda, the FCILC capacity is limited, but it has excellent potential in terms of development locally for communities around both Loughs. Its potential cannot be realised however, until it is given the legislation it requires to carry out its agenda. The recent crisis hasn't helped matters either, according to Arthur. "There was only so much we could do to begin with, but the recent suspension has tied our hands even more, and it's a great shame, because the two communities around the Loughs were at last beginning to see improvements. We've all agreed to continue to do our best for the Loughs anyhow."
Sinn Féin renominates to All-Ireland Bodies
Sinn Féin last week announced their nominees to the All-Ireland Implementation Bodies, as the first terms of office come to a close. Gearóid Ó hEara and Gearóid MacSiacais have been renomiated to serve on Foras na Gaeilge - the All-Ireland Irish language implementation body for a further three-year term. Anne Speed is renominated to serve on the Food Safety Promotion Board for a further three years. Robbie Smyth is renominated to serve on InterTradeIreland for a further three years. Tarlach Ó Crosáin replaces Arthur Morgan TD as Sinn Féin's nominee to the Foyle Carlingford and Irish Lights Body. He will serve a five-year term. Speaking after the announcement, Sinn Féin Assembly Group Leader, Newry Armagh representative Conor Murphy, said: "The All-Ireland Implementation Bodies are a vital part of the Good Friday Agreement. They benefit people across Ireland and along with the other areas of cooperation represent areas of work that need to be consolidated and expanded. "Sinn Féin wants to ensure that the work of the All-Ireland Implementation Bodies and the sectoral areas covered by the work of the North South Ministerial Council are not frustrated by unionist intransigence. In the areas of Health, Education and Special Needs Education in particular, the Economy, Agriculture, Animal Health and Transport, it is vital that a progressive common sense approach is pursued by both governments and all parties during suspension of the political institutions. "I look forward to seeing the other political parties, including the SDLP and UUP, announcing their nominations to the All-Ireland Implementation Bodies. Sinn Féin will also be meeting Paul Murphy in the coming days to discuss the work of these All-Ireland Bodies."
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