Tipperary farmer John Hanrahan yesterday confirmed that he is to appeal the decision by the Department of Agriculture to remove almost 400 cattle from his farm near Carrick-on-Suir earlier this month on animal welfare grounds.
Mr Hanrahan confirmed to The Irish Times that he had made an ex-parte application before Judge Terence Finn at Tipperary Town District Court last Tuesday and Judge Finn has adjourned the appeal for hearing to Clonmel District Court on April 11th.
The appeal by Mr Hanrahan follows the removal of some 391 cows, calves and heifers by department officials from his farm at Ballycurkeen after they became concerned for the welfare of the animals.
However both Mr Hanrahan and a department spokesman confirmed that none of the remaining 120 or so milking cows have been removed from the farm this week, though the spokesman said officials were continuing to monitor the situation. The removal of the animals began on March 15th after department officials became concerned about the animals because of a shortage of feedstuff on the 250 acre farm. Officials returned on March 16th and removed more animals from the farm but they withdrew at around 7.30pm after a senior official said that they were being refused access to the cattle after their way was blocked by a tractor.
Yesterday, Mr Hanrahan said he had visited the farm near Waterford city to where his animals had been removed and he had concerns over how they were being cared for there.
Mr Hanrahan came to national prominence in the 1980s when some 200 of his animals died and he sued multinational Merck, Sharpe and Dohme for polluting his farm through emissions from their plant at nearby Ballydine. In July 1988 he received a Supreme Court settlement of £805,000 plus legal costs of between £700,000 and £1 million.