Earlier this week, Carrickmacross Town Council became the third town council to call for an end to the mandatory fluoridation of the water supply in Ireland – a controversial policy which is increasingly being seen as a major threat to people's health.

Carrickmacross this week became the third Town Council to call for an end to mandatory fluoridation of the water in Ireland.

The fluoride debate has kicked into a different gear over the past few months, on the back of Hot Press' ongoing investigation into the phenomenon. As already reported by Hot Press, a bill, proposing an end to water fluoridation, has been prepared by Sinn Féin, which will go before the Dáil in the coming weeks.

Meanwhile, the number of town councils calling for an end to the procedure increases by the week, with Carrickmacross becoming the latest to sign up to the anti-fluoride side. The motion to call for an end to water fluoridation was passed unanimously, adding further to the embarrassment of the Department of Health and the Irish Expert Body on Fluorides and Health, who have been staunchly defending what has the appearance of an increasingly anachronistic policy.

In the current issue of Hot Press, the Junior Minister with responsibility for fluoridation, Alex White, answers 27 questions put to him by Hot Press writer Adrienne Murphy – offering what is, in effect, the ultimate defence of the policy of fluoridation on behalf of the authorities here.

Hopwever, many statements contained in that defence are being challenged on a consistent, and deepening basis by a flood of new material reaching the public domain, including an extraordinary letter published by the US EPA Headquarters Union of Scientists.

Hot Press understands that a meeting is due to take place tomorrow, at which both the Irish Expert Body and anti-fluoridation scientists will present their arguments in relation to fluoride to Dublin City Council. Councillors are likely to be asked to vote on the issue over the coming weeks.

"I am concerned that this is a kind of pre-emptive strike on the part of the pro-fluoridation lobby," one activist told Hot Press. "I think it is vital that the councillors should have access to all of the information that Hot Press has published over the past few months, before they make their decision. As late as Monday last, the scientists working for the Environmental Protection Agency in Washington DC issued a letter stating why they opposed fluoridation – and it is hugely compeling. But are the councillors going to be given access to all of this before they vote? We will see."

Read how the US Environmental Protection Agency Union opposes fluoridation, here.

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