The Minister for Agriculture, Mr Walsh, has said a corridor to allow Irish beef to move unhindered into Britain has been opened.
The Minister, who was speaking at a Teagasc conference in Dublin yesterday, said he had received assurances from the British government within the previous 24 hours that corridors for Irish beef would be opened.
He said the inspection of Irish trucks by British farmers was illegal and totally unacceptable, but he had been assured by the British government that it will take resolute action to ensure free passage of Irish produce. Asked about the possibility of a trade war between Britain and Ireland, the Minister said would be in the interests of no one.
The UK market was extremely valuable to the Irish beef industry and was worth almost £200 million annually taking up to 100,000 tonnes of beef every year.
Last night hauliers and exporters said they were concerned that the British police were either unwilling or unable to protect Irish trucks going into the UK.
"There were trucks damaged on Tuesday night when these so-called assurances were given. I am concerned that our trucks will be attacked again," said one haulage firm owner.
Industry sources said last night that this coming weekend was the most important in the entire export year for Irish beef exports on the build-up to Christmas. Factories exporting to the UK have doubled their output for the Christmas markets and plan to run up to 80 refrigerated units every night from Friday onwards into the UK.
In Britain farmers who have raised questions about the quality of beef production in Ireland have been offered the chance by the British supermarket chain Tesco to visit Irish farms and abattoirs.
The informal offer to members of the National Farmers' Union has not been extended to the Farmers' Union of Wales, whose members have blockaded the ports of Fishguard and Holyhead in recent weeks.
There has been growing concern among British farmers about the quality of beef production in Ireland. They also suspect that Ireland has sent beef to Britain over the age of 30 months, while cattle of the same age in Britain must be incinerated.
Mr David Sawday, a spokesman for Tesco, explained the offer was made to rebut suggestions that Irish beef was "rubbish".
"The farmers believe the standards are not as high in Ireland as they are here. They say imports are coming in that are from countries that don't have the same costs and standards. We say the slaughter houses and production are approved and we said to the farmers if you don't believe us we'll show you," he said.
About 700 farmers protested at Liverpool's Seaforth Docks last night against the importation of Irish beef. However, all the lorries were able to get through without incidence according to a police spokesman.