An attempt to finalise and agree the regulations covering the transport of live animals in the EU will be debated today in Luxembourg by the European farm ministers.
Opposition to Irish compromise proposals has grown on the Continent in the last week.
The European Parliament has also voted to limit the journey times for animals going for slaughter to a single nine-hour journey. If this were accepted, the trade from here would cease.
In his as role of president of the Farm Council, the Minister for Agriculture and Food, Mr Walsh, has put forward proposals which were aimed at allowing the trade to continue from Ireland.
The Irish proposed a sequence of travel/rest/travel: for example, nine hours travel, two hours rest, nine hours travel, 12 hours rest, which could be repeated indefinitely.
Ireland has also been resisting European demands that animals remain on trucks during rest periods to avoid disease being spread.
However, Irish exporters say this is cruel and will mean a reduction in the number of animals which can be transported, rendering the trade unviable.
The Irish have successfully argued that time spent on board ferries should be classified as rest and not part of the journey. This has been fiercely resisted by animal welfare groups.
While there had been a growing confidence that Ireland would probably be able to get most of the compromise proposals accepted, there has been increasing opposition to them.
While the European Parliament has no direct role in the issue and was expressing its opinion, the opposition to the live trade demonstrated there has shaken the confidence of the export and farming lobby here.
When negotiations begin today, Ireland can expect support from only some of its co-members and direct opposition from many.
Most difficult to persuade will be the German minister, Renate Cunas, who is a member of the Green Party and is totally opposed to the trade.
Britain is officially opposed to the transport of live animals and so too are many of the Scandinavian countries.
Irish support will come from the Netherlands, France and Spain. Italy, which receives many live animals from neighbouring countries, is thought to be for the proposals.
It is possible that the Irish may not seek a full resolution of the issue over the next two days but may use the informal meeting of farm ministers in Killarney in early May as a sounding board for finding a solution in June.
It is estimated that each year about three million live animals are moved through and out of the European Union.
This year, Irish live exports have dropped by 42 per cent to 33,000 animals.