A substantial relaxation in controls on the holding of "lowrisk" social and sporting events, is expected to be announced by the Minister for Agriculture, Mr Walsh, later today as the foot-and-mouth threat has eased significantly.
Yesterday was the 14th day since the only case of the disease found on the island of Ireland, in Meigh, Co Armagh, was confirmed. Experts believe the threat of spread here is diminishing. Yet, they warn, it remains very real, especially from Britain - now 30 days into the crisis.
Last night Mr Walsh received a report from an expert group headed by Prof Michael Monaghan, who is chairing a committee reviewing controls in place. It is understood to have categorised the risks from various events and to have rated many urban activities as low risk.
Early today the Minister will meet the task force in charge of keeping the disease out of the State - it is expected to allow many urban activities, including "low-risk" sporting events take place.
However, activities involving rural communities and risk of animal-to-animal contamination, such as horse racing, will not be allowed take place. A gradual rescheduling of sports events is likely over the coming week, and to be more pronounced from the weekend of March 24th with a majority of events permitted from early April - provided the Republic remains disease-free.
The foot-and-mouth scare is causing significant collateral damage to non-agricultural sectors of the economy, Davy Stockbrokers has found.
In his latest research, chief economist Mr Jim O'Leary warns that a proper balance must be struck between reducing the risk of getting the disease and jeopardising jobs and output outside agriculture.
The continuing threat within Britain has prompted a decision to cull all animals susceptible to foot-and-mouth in three-kilometre-wide zones in areas of high infection.
The Agriculture Minister, Mr Nick Brown, put hundreds of thousands additional animals under sentence of death through the government's new "safety first" approach to combat the disease - as the UK's confirmed number of cases rose to more than 250.
Up to 300,000 seemingly healthy sheep could be destroyed where there is a strong possibility of infection.