The ending of the dispute between the Irish Farmers' Association and the sheep-processing plants, which had led to a shutdown of the sector for the last seven days, has been welcomed by the Minister for Agriculture, Mary Coughlan.
The sheep farmers had been protesting over the prices they were receiving for lamb and accused the factories of pulling down the prices by €20 per animal in recent weeks.
Failure to reach agreement at local level led to protests being mounted outside plants at Irish Country Meats in Camolin, Co Wexford, and Navan, Co Meath; Kepak in Athleague, Co Roscommon, and Hacketstown, Co Carlow; Dawn Meats in Ballyhaunis, Co Mayo, and Kildare Chilling in Co Kildare.
At some of these plants where cattle are also processed, cattle were not delivered to the factories either.
Meat Industry Ireland, representing the factories, claimed the dispute had cost the industry €5 million a day and had endangered the lucrative French markets where 80 per cent of Irish lamb is sold.
The factories said they could not pay more than the market was returning.