The Irish Farmers' Association has defended the use of live sheep at its demonstration yesterday morning outside the Department of Agriculture offices, Kildare Street, Dublin.
The protest, to highlight the problems of the State's 45,000 sheep farmers, began at 7 a.m. and ended at 3 p.m. About 80 sheep farmers took part.
Last night Compassion in World Farming, the animal welfare organisation, condemned the use of live sheep in the protest and called on the Minister for Agriculture, Mr Walsh, to do likewise.
An IFA spokesman said the organisation had deliberately kept the number of animals in the protest to a minimum and had used only 15. "They were in no way stressed and at one stage during the protest they were inspected by officials from the Society for the Protection of Animals and they had no complaints."
During the protest, which passed without incident, the IFA president, Mr Tom Parlon, said that in 1979 lambs were worth £44 per head, but 10 years later were now making only £36 per head.
He called on Mr Walsh to seek EU assistance.