Sir, - Apart from inveterate dissenters such as Kevin Myers (An Irishman's Diary, April 3rd), many scientists, commentators, politicians and ordinary citizens have expressed dismay at the decision of President Bush to pull out of the Kyoto Protocol on greenhouse gases.
We should, however, remember that he is not the first politician to renege on a campaign promise. On April 26th 1997, the present Minister for the Environment, Noel Dempsey, and his colleague at the Department of Agriculture, Joe Walsh, issued a statement on genetically engineered organisms. They wrote that it was "premature to release genetically engineered organisms into the environment or to market food which contains genetically modified ingredients". They pledged: "Fianna Fail will not support what amounts to the largest nutritional experiment in human history with the consumer as the guinea pig."
Once in power, Fianna Fail abandoned this commitment without explaining why it adopted one position in Opposition and did a U-turn when returned to government. Could it be that Fianna Fail, like President Bush, was, to use a rugby metaphor, turned over by corporate interests? And is it any wonder that governments are more likely to dance to the tune of their corporate paymasters than to promote the common good of their citizens? - Yours, etc.,
Father Sean McDonagh, Dalgan Park, Navan, Co Meath.