Estimated costs of outbreak in North put at over £200m

The net cost of the foot-and-mouth outbreak to the Northern Ireland economy to date could exceed £200 million sterling, according to initial estimates by business advisers based in Belfast.

Research being carried out by PricewaterhouseCoopers for its annual Economic Review of Northern Ireland shows the foot-and-mouth outbreak has had a domino effect on sectors from tourism to food and haulage.

Mr Philip McDonagh, chief economist with PricewaterhouseCoopers, said agri-related businesses were the first affected by the outbreak almost three months ago, but the emergence of new cases has spread the effects of the virus throughout the economy.

Mr McDonagh said: "This is not an issue for farmers or for food producers or the tourism sector - foot-and-mouth is an issue for the whole community in Northern Ireland.

"The simple fact is that the impact of this virus has spread across a number of sectors; we are not talking about one sector in isolation - we are talking about Northern Ireland as a whole and the long-term effects this could have."

He said the North's tourism sector had been one of the hardest hit and the traditional marching season during July could exacerbate the problems.

"Because of the events of recent years, July is generally perceived as a poor month for the tourist industry. This is a critical time of year for the industry in Northern Ireland to take advantage of conference bookings, or American tours, but all we are seeing at the moment are cancellations."

Belfast International Airport and Belfast City Airport have both reported a slight downturn on passenger figures since the outbreak. Mr McDonagh said the key concern for the Northern Ireland economy would be how small businesses coped with the ongoing impact of foot-and-mouth. "Small towns throughout Northern Ireland are coming to a standstill because neither people nor animals are moving, and the knock-on effect of this on retailers would be substantial.

"It is a case of whoever can hang on in there will survive. For banks and large financial institutions who have a significant stake in the agriculture sector the situation is difficult but they have the resources to survive. It is a very different picture for small firms and individuals."

Farmers could be rewarded for maintaining the traditional landscape instead of being paid to produce surpluses of cheap food by intensive methods, the UK's Agriculture Minister, Mr Nick Brown, said.

"If good is to come out of evil, we should take this opportunity to make absolutely certain the support mechanisms we put in place for farmers . . . help them get closer to the market place and have a decent income from the work," he said.