Following the confirmation of an outbreak of foot and mouth in southern England, a ban is being put in place here on the importation of all live animals and fresh meat from Britain.
The British department of agriculture has confirmed that cattle have been found infected with the foot and mouth virus.
A three kilometre protection zone has been erected around the farm near Guildford in Surrey.
All of the cattle on the farm are to be culled.
British prime minister Gordon Brown is to return to London in the morning from his holiday in Dorset to attend a meeting of the Government's Cobra emergency contingencies committee.
Meanwhile, Minister for Agriculture Mary Coughlan has spoke of the controls that her Department is putting in place following confirmation of an outbreak of Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) in Surrey, England.
She confirmed that that her officials have already met to review the situation and she has agreed an appropriate set of measures to respond to this development.
Later, IFA President Padraig Walshe called on the Minister for Agriculture to put the country on maximum bio-security alert to protect the national livestock herd from Food and Mouth disease.
He said disinfection controls must be put in place at all ports and airports with immediate effect.
