The cattle dealer who imported foot-and-mouth infected sheep into the North has denied it was his original intention to bring them into the Republic.
On BBC radio yesterday Mr John Walsh said the sheep were intended to go for slaughter at an abattoir in Lurgan, Co Armagh, "but the deal fell through and I was stuck with a load of sheep at one o'clock when they came off the boat.
"I asked my old friend Maurice Collins would he rest them and he did his old friend a favour," he said. Mr Walsh said Mr Collins was now an outcast around his farm in Meigh, but appealed to those in the area: "It was me who was in charge of the sheep, not Maurice Collins."
Mr Walsh denied claims from the Northern Department of Agriculture that he failed to cooperate. It has been alleged the sheep were brought into the State as part of a VAT fraud, but Mr Walsh denied he knowingly committed any fraud and said he had never been VAT registered. However, "I'm told now that when they come from Northern Ireland or England there is a 4 per cent VAT. If that VAT is payable I will pay it."
Asked whether the sheep had tags on their ears denoting they were British sheep when they were delivered to the Kepak meat plant in Co Roscommon, Mr Walsh said: "I'm glad you asked me that one because on legal advice I'm going to sidestep that question."
Mr Walsh could not confirm or deny if any sheep were unaccounted for.