Teagasc seeks GM potato test licence in Ireland

Genetically modified crop trials may get under way in Ireland this year, the first time in around 15 years that such crops will be grown in the open.

Environmentalists have been quick to oppose such moves, claiming it will undermine the country's reputation for green food.

Agricultural research and advisory body Teagasc stated its intention to seek a licence from the Environmental Protection Agency to plant GM crops at its research centre in Oak Park, Co Carlow.

De Ewen Mullins, senior researcher at Teagsac, said that this was part of an EU funded initiative to assess the impacts of GM crops on soil.

The trials will involve blight resistant potatoes, developed at the Wageningen University in the Netherlands and no biotechnology or GM company was involved, Dr Mullins said.

This would be different to the last time when protesters stormed the fields and chopped down crops grown from Monsanto seeds, Dr Mullins said. No company is involved this time and the process would be public and transparent. “It is an issue for Irish agriculture. We have had this prolonged polarised debate with the public stuck in the middle. There will be a fuss over this but we are taking a different approach,” he said.