MEPS HAVE expressed support for a Kilkenny farmer who claims pollution has been poisoning his cattle and vegetation on his land for almost 20 years.
At a committee hearing yesterday in the European Parliament, MEPs said a resolution on the issue could be put before the entire parliament.
Dan Brennan, who farms 170 acres near the north Co Kilkenny town of Castlecomer, claims that his dairy herd has suffered from stunted growth, low milk yields and high calf mortality over suspected cadmium discharges from a local brick factory.
The owner of the Ormonde Brick plant, building materials giant CRH, has always denied any connection with Mr Brennan’s problems. In 2007, Mr Brennan put his case to the parliament’s petitions committee after investigations by the Irish authorities proved fruitless.
MEPs visited Mr Brennan’s farm and concluded that the cattle had been affected by “toxic emissions” from the factory and asked the Irish authorities to investigate further.
However, a new report by veterinary experts for the Department of Agriculture failed to establish the cause.
Mr Brennan turned for the second time to the European Parliament at a 45-minute hearing yesterday.
He and a number of consultants and scientists attacked the new report at the same committee yesterday, arguing that it was precluded from connecting the contamination with the brick factory.
