Guests of the Nation

The Ireland of the romantic past with it. thatched cottage., rural traditions and literary grace has changed beyond all recognition in the last twenty-five years. It is still one of the least polluted countries in the northern hemisphere, but only just. That, too, could change dramatically in the very near future. Ireland's. economy has developed with even fewer planning safeguards than those. of most of its neighbours. This book describes the rapid growth in the number of extremely dangerous chemical-industrial plants and how the Irish government has given the multinationals almost carte-blanche to do what they like, in secrecy and virtually without accountability. But the Irish people are accustomed to resisting and Robert Alien 9 writes of the ways in which the chemical companies, despite government co-operation, have not had it all their own way. The companies are facing an increasingly angry public who refuse to allow their health and even their lives to be jeopardized for the sake of other people's. profit. What is. happening in Ireland concerns.us all-pollution has a way of crossing borders. Originally published in 1990