A lively debate on the use of animals for research has done the rounds over the last few weeks after John Banville’s letter to the Irish Times on the third of October this year. It seems that the animal rights side of the discussion recently found a new outlet for their message.
The following graffiti was painted on the walls surrounding the Nassau Street Arts-Block entrance to college during the weekend 25-26 October: “False Pretense Money €€€” and on the other side “Murderers” and “Vivisection is a lies money”. From this we can deduce that the activists were aiming to convey the notion that vivisection makes researchers as bad as murderers, that somehow Trinity, or possibly the researchers, are leading the public astray in this matter and that money is the real issue. In the search for the perpetrators we can hopefully rule out all students of English.
It is worth noting here that EU and college rules for the use of animals in research are strict, expensive and difficult to comply with, but that no Trinity researchers operate outside of these boundaries.
