The gloves are off between the ICMSA and The Irish Times, The Dealer observed this week.

A letter from the farm organisation tore strips off the newspaper of record over the content of an article by DCU lecturer and Labour Party candidate Sadhbh O’Neill which it carried recently.

O’Neill’s article claimed that an “unholy alliance” of farm bodies, industry, State agencies, political parties and academics was working to save the nitrates derogation and cited the Beef Tribunal in warning of the dangers of such a grouping.

An “influence map” published by online outfit DeSmog recently exposed the power of this alliance, said O’Neill.

However, ICMSA president Denis Drennan in his letter challenged DeSmog to construct a similar influence map to illustrate the “overlap between environmental NGOs, ‘activists’, media figures and commentators, commercial environmental consultancies, appointments to one or more of the dizzying array of State-supported quangos and eventual; candidacy for political parties”.

Now that map would make interesting reading.