The Cabinet is to hold a day-long meeting in Dundalk later this month in a display of solidarity with Co Louth in the aftermath of the foot-and-mouth outbreak.
The lifting of the exclusion zone surrounding the foot-and-mouth case in Proleek from midnight on Monday was also welcomed yesterday and the focus in the region shifted to the future.
The Taoiseach was asked to consider holding the Cabinet meeting, on May 14th, in Dundalk by the Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs, Mr Dermot Ahern, a local TD.
"It will be the strongest possible signal to the rest of the country that we are back in business," the Minister said yesterday.
Meanwhile, a task force has been established under the chairmanship of Mr Raymond O'Malley, chairman of Louth IFA, to address the issues for farmers in the Cooley peninsula.
"We are charting new territory here because nothing like this has ever happened before. For example it will take five years for farmers who had mountain sheep to restock because they will have to start with a nucleus flock and breed from it," he explained.
Ms Deirdre Ryan, executive director of Dundalk Chamber of Commerce, has welcomed the lifting of the exclusion zone. "We can get the message out that Dundalk and north Louth are open for business and leisure," she said.
Ms Ryan estimates that retailers suffered an average drop of 25 per cent in business as a result of the outbreak.