The only case of foot and mouth in the Republic a year ago has left a lasting legacy, writes Sean MacConnell, Agriculture Correspondent
One year ago today, at 10.35 a.m. the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, stood up in the Dáil and told a hushed House that foot-and-mouth disease had breached the defences of the State and had crossed the Border into Proleek, Co Louth.
Three weeks before, the disease which had been breaking out like bushfire up and down the British countryside, was confirmed in a flock of sheep in Meigh, Co Armagh, less than 3 km away from the Rice farm in Proleek.
The Taoiseach was speaking to a people who had made tremendous efforts over the previous weeks to ensure the disease would not be spread all over the country. That effort was to continue right into the late summer.
The State had moved to protect the agriculture sector, sealing the Border as tight as possible, restricting traffic from Britain and the North, banning the import of food from there and installing disinfecting points at ports of entry.
Major cultural, sporting and recreational events had been cancelled.
People were advised that they had been absolved from attending church services and even in cities, events far removed from any agricultural base were cancelled.
The three weeks between the outbreak in Armagh and the Proleek confirmation had been a learning curve for the Irish people who had watched with horror the television images of animals being burned in Britain.
They had learned about the massive movement of livestock up and down the British countryside, across the Irish Sea and into the Republic and from here to the Continent. They had learned too about how sheep were smuggled into the North from Britain and then were taken South for processing, a lucrative trade which was based on the avoidance of tax.
They also learned about other illegal activities, of how some farmers claimed EU payments for sheep that did not exist or did not own themselves but borrowed for the day of inspection.
Further education was to follow with evidence emerging of substantial smuggling of calves from the North, many of which were dumped by farmers as inspection of stock increased and restrictions on the movement of animals were tightened.
Fortunately for the people of this State, a number of factors worked in favour of control and elimination of the disease outbreak in Co Louth.
Following the outbreak of the disease in Meigh on March 1st, an exclusion zone which extended across the Border into the Republic had been put in place and had been there for three weeks.
The fact there were no major pig units in Cooley was a prime factor in suppressing the spread, and the geography of the area - it is surrounded on three sides by water - meant that it could be treated as a stand-alone unit.
By the time the threat was over, 48,744 sheep, 1,123 cattle, 166 goats, 2,908 pigs and 280 deer had been slaughtered in the Cooley area. Elsewhere in the country, 3,826 sheep and 207 cattle were culled.
This cull also revealed irregularities in a number of claims made by farmers in the Cooley for ewes they did not possess and the cloud of suspicion hangs over the farmers in the area to this day.
One year on, it is clear that the outbreak of the disease has had a major impact on the controls the Department of Agriculture has been able to exert over farming activity.
It had been given draconian powers to control the spread of animals diseases and many of the controls brought in, including controls on movement of animals, remain in place.
Last month, the Dáil extended the powers granted under the amendments made to the Diseases of Animals (Amendment) Act, 2001, rushed through the Dáil during the crisis, for a further year.
These powers include massive fines and forfeiture of land, premises, vessels or aircraft involved in the commission of an offence against the new laws.
For the first time in the history of the State, cattle-dealers and agents are now licensed and must apply annually to the Department for permission to trade.
A major victory for the Department, and indeed the consumer, has been the individual identification for the first time of every ewe and lamb born in the State.
The identification of sheep brought that sector into line with the cattle sector where the Department has put in place an individual identification system based on tagging and computer records.
By the end of the summer, it is expected that an identification system for pigs will also be in place.
Remnants of the "Fortress Ireland" plan introduced to keep the disease out, remain in place and the Irish taxpayer is continuing to pay for the provision of disinfection facilities at the main ports in Britain which service this country.
There has also been a strengthening of links between the authorities in Northern Ireland and the Republic working towards an all-Ireland animal health control system.
This has been done in an effort to ensure that nothing like this can happen again but experts say that with globalisation, the danger grows every day, not just from foot-and-mouth but from a whole range of exotic animal diseases.