All is quiet in Ballaghaderreen. A familiar fatalism has become tinged with blue in this small Roscommon town. The past was never kind to this part of the world, but what was a promising future now looks like it might be cancelled. The spectre of footand-mouth has sent shivers through the local economy.
As Declan O'Callaghan, a director of Ballaghaderreen and District Development Ltd, explained yesterday: "Ours is essentially a farming community . . . We don't have the luxury of technology firms or large foreign employers here, so our exposure is probably greater than anywhere else in Ireland."
The current crisis of confidence in the area was going to "damage the whole economic structure of a place already the poor relation in Ireland's economy," he said.
A man at the Dawn Meats beef-processing plant in the town put it more graphically. "If it [foot-and-mouth] comes down any further, the whole job is f-ed", he said. The plant employs about 100 men. In summer up to 400 can work there.
It is believed in the town that killing at the plant stopped last Friday. A spokesman for Dawn Meats did not wish to discuss the situation. It was "very delicate, very sensitive" was all he would say. With the Republic's cattle marts closed for the past three weeks and movement of cattle so difficult, it is easy to see why this would be so.
Another of the town's major employers, the Shannonside milk-processing plant, carries on with caution. A total ban on the importation of Irish foodstuffs into the US, as mooted earlier this month, would have been "catastrophic" for them, one source said.
About 60 to 65 per cent of Shannonside's dried milk protein goes to the US and Mexico. It is used in coffee creamers, processed cheeses and pizzas. The plant also exports powdered whey to the European market, particularly Germany.
To ensure the continuing confidence of that market Shannon side is no longer using milk from the North. Until now Northern milk accounted for 20 to 25 per cent of the approximately 50 million gallons of milk processed at the plant annually.
Its milk now is being sourced from Mayo, Sligo, Leitrim, Roscommon and east Galway. The jobs of its 60 employees look secure, but the continuing uncertainty gives little satisfaction to anyone.
Farmer Leo McCrann sees little cause for satisfaction either. "We're finished", he said. "We can do nothing." He used to buy cattle in Mayo to sell later in Roscommon, but not any more.
"Any [cattle] bought before are still there, and buying fodder is costing more than they are worth. The only good thing is the weather. It's dry. But, as regards money . . . there is no money, absolutely," he said, On top of which he had to pay a vet £20 last week to authorise movement of his cattle.
When the present crisis passed, there would be a "barrage of cattle" for sale. There would be "nothing and nothing for a good while" to be made out of them, he said.
At the North Connacht Farmers' Co-Op in the town the general manager, Michael Phillips, said there had been an increased demand for feed from farmers stuck with stock. Sales of disinfectant and feed were up significantly.
However, there had been a decline in sales of everything else in what was normally their busiest period. "There is an awful lot of talk and fear", he said. "It's worse since Louth. I sold more disinfectant last Friday and Saturday than in the previous two weeks."
Sinead Mangan, principal of the local national school, said the crisis had forced the cancellation of a fundraising night on March 15th and a golf classic planned for April. Football at the school had been stopped, as had band practice. Their next concern was the Milk Ras, which is due in the town on May 20th.
FBD, which sponsors the Milk Ras, said yesterday that teams from England, Scotland, Wales and the Netherlands were not being allowed to take part. The first stage of the race ends in Ballaghaderreen, and it was expected that as many as 200 of the entourage would be put up in the area.