Following representations from the Department of Agriculture the threatened US restrictions on Irish food exports have been lifted. The United States is understood to have been threatening to halt imports of some dairy by-products unless special permission is sought. The Department of Agriculture told the US authorities that the move is not justified.
There has not been a case of foot and mouth in the Republic, but France has already formally banned live cattle imports from Ireland - even though movement of cattle has been halted anyway.
The United States was believed to want to restrict imports of chocolate crumb and casein. Our exports of these are worth £100m annually. Casein is a dairy by-product used as a food ingredient. Pork had also been listed, but our exports are not significant. The list did not include creme liqueurs or hard cheeses.
The IFA leader Tom Parlon said that the US move blatantly ignored the fact that the South remains free of foot and mouth. Earlier, France banned all imports of live animals from Ireland because of fears of foot and mouth disease. The measure will apply to all live cows, sheep, goats and pigs.
Controls and checks have been intensified on both sides of the border to try and prevent the further spread of foot and mouth disease. Eight new cases were confirmed in Britain today but the only one so far on this island was the case confirmed at Meigh in Armagh yesterday. The Minister for Agriculture, Joe Walsh, and the Garda Commissioner, Pat Byrne, have been in Dundalk to see for themselves how border measures are operating to prevent foot and mouth disease from entering the Republic. In the emergency Dáil debate earlier, Mr Walsh announced further measures, including special permits for hauliers to move animals from any farm to be slaughter. He also said there was no evidence whatsoever of cross border smuggling into the Republic.
Speaking in Dundalk Mr Walsh again stressed the paramount importance of stopping the spread of the disease; Mr Byrne said that a massive security operation on the border was in place. Minister Walsh also announced further measures in response to the crisis. He told the emergency Dáil debate that hauliers would require special permits to move animals from any farm to be slaughtered. He also said that there was no evidence whatsoever of cross border smuggling into the Republic.
The army has increased its commitment to the foot and mouth operation. From today the army will be tasked through the Garda Síochána; this permits the deployment of unarmed soldiers.
Earlier, the Taoiseach described the foot and mouth disease crisis as a once-in-a-generation threat to this country. Speaking in a resumed Dáil debate on the emergency, Bertie Ahern said that more than 1,000 troops and Gardaí were now on duty at border crossings and at ports and airports to guard against the disease reaching the Republic. He stressed that there have still been no confirmed cases of foot and mouth here.
However, a sheep farm in County Louth was at the centre of a foot and mouth alert this morning. The farm at Dromin, about 12 miles north of Drogheda, has been sealed off by Gardaí and officials of the Department of Agriculture. There are concerns about a number of sheep that were brought there from the North recently. The officials are trying to establish if the sheep were part of a consignment that originated in England and included those that developed foot and mouth disease on a farm at Meigh in County Armagh. An abattoir in County Kildare, to which some sheep were sent from the farm, is also being checked.
Three hundred workers at Kildare Chilling Company in Kildare town have been laid off. The plant was restricted at 1am on suspicion that sheep from the North may have been processed there in the past week. Production of the plant has stopped. It is one of the larger meat factories in the country, employing hundreds of workers.
It appears likely that the 248 lambs which are at the centre of a major cross-border investigation were exported to France after being slaughtered at the Kepak Plant in Athleague. Up to now, Kepak and the Department of Agriculture have been unwilling to say where the lambs which were slaughtered in Athleague on Tuesday of last week went to. Documents taken from the Kepak plant earlier this week by Department officials are still being studied in an attempt to establish where the high risk lambs originally came from and whether or not they were held on a farm somewhere in the Republic before being taken to Athleague.
Investigations at the plant continued today. Gardaí say that they now believe that a sheep dealer from the Midlands and a lorry driver from Northern Ireland delivered the suspect consignment of lambs to the plant last week.
Garda sources say that the triple-deck articulated lorry and a four wheel drive vehicle arrived at the plant at 4am on Tuesday of last week. The lorry driver unloaded the lambs within half an hour and left immediately afterwards. The other man, believed to be a sheep dealer from the Midlands, waited to collect a cheque later in the day. Both the Gardaí and the Department of Agriculture want to interview him.
Surveillance at the Kepak plant was stepped up significantly today with Gardaí checking every lorry arriving at the factory. Slaughtering has continued throughout the day. The company said that no restrictions had been placed on it. Slaughtering has now ended for the weekend and will resume on Monday.
Precautionary checks are continuing at three farms in County Monaghan, although they are not thought to have foot and mouth disease. It is thought that while the sheep at the farms came from Northern Ireland, they did not come from the South Armagh area, where an outbreak was confirmed yesterday. Garda sources say that this continues to be one of the biggest concerns for the investigating team as it would greatly increase the hazard which already exists and would lead to a massive expansion of the potential danger zones.
In a separate development a District Court Judge has called on the owners of discos and dance halls to impose a seven day closure. Judge John Neilan who is responsible for A District Court area covering Longford, Westmeath and Offaly made no order to restrict licence holders but said that failure to close their businesses at a time of great risk to the nation would be an enormous act of greed and arrogance.
Cancellations of sporting and social meeting have been widespread. The annual St Patrick's Day parade in Dublin, due to take place on Saturday 17 March, has been postponed until further notice. A detailed list of cancellations and postponements can be found here .
