Any attempt to stop Northern-based vets from crossing the Border to work in Donegal would appear to be unworkable because there are not enough vets based in the county, it has emerged.
The Northern Agriculture Minister, Mrs Brid Rodgers, has suggested that vets should work on one side of the Border only to minimise the risk of spreading foot-and-mouth disease. If this was to be enforced, however, many Northern vets would have to base themselves in Donegal where most of their clients live.
Mr Damien Owens, of the White House Veterinary Clinic in Derry, said 75 per cent of their large animal business was in Donegal. The practice has five clients between Derry and the Border, but about 300 in Donegal.
At present he is based nearly all the time in Donegal and uses two different vehicles for work on either side of the Border. The practice, which normally has five vets, used to have a surgery in the Republic but this was closed when security on the Border eased.
Mr Owens said that for financial reasons they would have to base at least one vet in Donegal if prevented from working in both jurisdictions. He doesn't believe such a measure is necessary. "If you take all the necessary precautions with proper disinfectant procedures, then I don't think there is a problem," he said.
Mr Owens said that as a vet who knew the area well he could also identify "dodgy" clients, where extra precautions would have to be taken. "There are people you know you can trust, and there are others who you wouldn't trust too much." Mr Gerard Groarty, of the Donegal Animal Hospital based in Letterkenny, which is the largest veterinary practice in the county, said most of their work was with mountain sheep farmers. The majority of cattle in Donegal were served by Northern-based vets, he said.
In the whole of Donegal there are only three practices with more than one vet. By contrast, across the Border there are eight large practices, with more than four vets, from Derry down to Belleek who do most of their work in Donegal.
Most of Donegal's large dairy and beef herds are based in the east of the county and have always used Northern-based vets. One reason for this is that many of those farms are owned by Protestants, who have historical links across the Border.
The Donegal Animal Hospital, which has five vets, opened last May. Mr Groarty said that before foot-and-mouth 20 per cent of their business was with horses in Northern Ireland. This has now stopped completely but the practice has been hardest hit by the restrictions on animal movement.
The clinic was designed so that farmers could bring animals in to the vets. Because this is not allowed at present and their clients are spread over large areas, mainly in mountainous areas, business had been halved, he said.
He said he was concerned some vets working in Tyrone were also crossing into farms in Donegal. He praised the efforts of Department of Agriculture vets in Raphoe but said he could not support any attempt to stop Northern vets from working in the Republic because there would not be enough vets in Donegal to do their work.
"I would trust the professionalism of the vets and I would like to see the Northern fellows relocate and stay here," he said. He has already offered one Northern-based practice to base some of its vets at his premises.