Conservation critical of decision to give public platform after illegal dumping

SIR, — We in Friends of the Earth feel it was ill advised of the Down Recorder to allow Graham Furey and Elvis Kirk a public platform following their multiple convictions for illegal dumping, (Down Recorder, January 11.)

By taking this unusual step, the Recorder inadvertently highlights how environmental crime is somehow less important than other illegal behaviour. Would a drink driver or TV licence dodger be allowed a similar right to reply?

It was contemptuous of both men to suggest they were the victims of changed regulations and treated as examples.

As a self-professed custodian of the countryside, Mr. Furey must have been aware that what he did was outside the bounds of good environmental practice.

Likewise, as a businessman active in the waste disposal sector, Mr. Kirk would have needed to be familiar with dumping regulations.

If either feels he was a victim of an injustice or distortion of the facts, he has every right to challenge his conviction through the proper channels.

Yours etc.,

JIM MANLEY, KEITH BRADFORD, IMELDA HYNDS,

Friends of the Earth,

Downpatrick.