Sheep flock brought in from North killed in Co Mayo

A flock of 308 sheep were slaughtered as a "purely precautionary measure" at a farm outside Claremorris, Co Mayo, yesterday evening. They were reported to have been imported from Northern Ireland a fortnight ago.

The cull was approved by the Department of Agriculture and was carried out at the farm at Maltpool by Mayo veterinary inspectors.

The superintendent inspector, Mr John Magee, said it was "not possible" to rule out that the sheep had come from Britain, but the Department's inquiries indicated they had come from the North between February 21st and 22nd, having been bought at an Armagh mart. The ban on all animal imports to the Republic began at midnight on February 21st.

Some farms in Galway, Mayo and Roscommon were still being monitored by Department staff yesterday, to trace stock that may have been in contact with the illegally imported sheep delivered to the Kepak processing plant in Athleague, Co Roscommon, last week.

Originally planned for early yesterday afternoon, the slaughter at the Dixon farm by captive bolt gun was held up until the media agreed to leave the immediate area.

Even as blood sampling of the sheep continued, a school bus with local children drove up past the farm on the route leading to Mayo Abbey.

A local farmer, who tried to address the veterinary inspection team, expressed anger at the lack of information about the measures being taken, and the lack of controls.

Mr Magee told journalists there was no reason to believe the sheep had been in contact with foot-and-mouth disease. Nor had they been "in contact with sheep which were in contact" with infected stock, he said.

Cattle and other animals on the Dixon farm had been inspected, and blood samples taken from the flock of sheep were carried out as a precautionary measure, in case there was need to check samples at a later stage, he emphasised.

The owner was co-operating fully with the Department, having notified officials last Thursday that he had bought the sheep, Mr Magee said. The Department had been monitoring the farm since then, he said.

Mr Magee said the sheep were bought at Markethill mart, Armagh, on February 21st and transported to the Republic on February 22nd. They were taken to the Mayo farm on February 23rd. He confirmed there was evidence that tags had been removed from some of the sheep, but he did not know where they had been before February 21st.

"Officially, tags should remain on the animals until they are slaughtered, but it is not a requirement in this country to individually identify sheep," he said.