Clonakilty Town Council has voted unanimously to demand an end to compulsory fluoridation of the water supply. This follows a decision taken recently by Skibbereen Town Council calling for an end to mandatory fluoridation.

The Clonakilty motion was presented by Lord Mayor Cllr Cionnaith O Suilleabhain and seconded by Cllr Humphrey Deegan and supported unanimously by all members of the Town Council. In a report in the last issue of Hot Press, councillors from Skibbereen, including Mayor Karen Coakley and Councillor Brendan McCarthy, both of Fine Gael, stated that they were launching a campaign to mobilise Ireland's 80 town councils against the controversial policy which was introduced in Ireland in the early '60s.

Hot Press has been carrying out an investigation into the policy of fluoridation, and the mounting evidence, both locally and internationally, of its potential hazards for Irish citizens. The Hot Press campaign has provoked a huge public reaction, with questions being asked in the Dáil by independent TD Shane Ross as a result, and letters flooding in from scientists and doctors both in Ireland and internationally.

The Clonakilty motion comes as a blow to Minister Alex White, on the day that his answers to the 27 Questions put to him in an Open Letter by Hot Press are published in full in the magazine.