One hundred days after foot-and-mouth disease was first diagnosed in Britain, the Minister for Agriculture here, Mr Walsh, eased more foot-and-mouth controls, this time on horse and greyhound racing.
From June 1st events involving horses and greyhounds may proceed without adherence to the detailed requirements placed on them by the expert committee which has been advising the Minister on controls.
This will mean the end of the very strict controls which involved the permanent presence of a veterinary inspector to monitor the controls. But, the Minister said, strict disinfectant procedures must be maintained.
This will involve the cleaning and disinfection of transport vehicles before leaving premises for an event, and the wiping down of animals with a solution of citric acid. Disinfectant mats will continue to be mandatory at events.
The Minister said that movement permits would continue to be necessary for anyone moving horses into and out of the United Kingdom.
Speaking in Dublin last night, Mr Walsh said he would not be bringing forward the date for the reopening of cattle marts. He ruled out any early resumption of marts before the indicative date, June 18th.
The Minister has been coming under increasing pressure from the farming organisations to reopen the marts to facilitate the resumption of live cattle exports to markets in Lebanon, Italy and Spain, which provided a large outlet for Irish cattle last year. The markets have been closed to the Republic since the first, and only, outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease here on March 22nd.