Letters to the Editor: Food & Food-Related Issues

From 1984 through 2003, I wrote a series of Letters to the Editor on Food and Food-Related Issues with follow-on articles and radio/TV interviews that attracted national and international attention. Topics included biotechnology, famine relief, energy, health & safety and population growth. Consequential interactions with President Mary Robinson and two Prime Ministers, Taoiseach Garret Fitzgerald and Taoiseach C J Haughey are also featured. Where the discussion facilitated a range of views on a particular topic, I have included responses to my letters. Examples include Hormones in Beef, Energy from Biomass, Famine and Food Surpluses and Food Irradiation. " ... most refreshing and enterprising. A great contribution to agriculture, farm interests, agri-business, EPA, and may I say, historians. I applaud your blitzkrieg and enthusiasm." Nicholas Furlong, author.

Paul B McNulty is a Fulbright Scholar and Alumnus of University College Dublin, Ohio State and MIT. He has served on the professorial staff at UCD from 1979 through 2005 specializing in Biosystems Engineering and Food Technology. After retirement, he studied Genealogy/Family History and Creative Writing through the UCD Adult Education Programme. His diploma project, "The Genealogy of the Anglo-Norman Lynches who settled in Galway," led to the discovery of a treasure-trove of stories that inspired him to write historical novels based on real events in 18th century Ireland. These include "Spellbound by Sibella," "The Abduction of Anne O'Donel" and "A Story of the Bodkin Murders" each published by Club Lighthouse CLP, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. The first two novels have been finalists in the William Faulkner Novel Competitions, New Orleans in 2012 and 2013 respectively. He has also self-published "The Genealogy of the Anglo-Norman Lynches who settled in Galway in 2013" and a novella, "A Rebel Romance in 2014," both with CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform. More recently, he has written a play, based on an extract from his novel, Spellbound by Sibella. The Dramatic Society of UCD included a reading of his play in their Theatre Festival in November 2014. He has also completed a rough cut of a second play based on an extract from his second novel, The Abduction of Anne O'Donel. He is now close to completion of a rough cut of a third play based on an extract from his novella, A Rebel Romance. Paul lives in Dublin with his wife, three children and two granddaughters. The wild splendour of Mayo and Connemara inspires his writing. Links to social media include Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter. His website address is http: //paul-mcnulty.com.