The Minister for Agriculture, Mr Walsh, has been forced to cancel his first formal engagement in Northern Ireland since the Belfast Agreement vote, it was learned last night.
The Minister planned to address a seminar in Enniskillen which had been jointly organised by the Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers' Association (ICMSA) and the Northern Ireland Agricultural Producers' Association (NIAPA) on the impact of CAP reform.
But on Saturday the ICMSA president, Mr Frank Allen, was told the Minister would not be travelling north because of political sensitivities in the run-up to the Assembly elections.
Last night Mr Allen said he was disappointed Mr Walsh would not be attending the seminar, but he said it would not effect the planned nationwide series of meetings with the NIAPA.
It was learned last night that Mr Walsh had asked the Department of Foreign Affairs to clear his Northern visit and was told there appeared to be no difficulties. However, opposition to his visit was voiced within the Department for Agriculture in Northern Ireland (DANI) through the British Minister responsible for Agriculture, Lord Dubs.
The authorities in Dublin were told that the visit might be considered insensitive because of the forthcoming elections and it was made clear that Mr Walsh should not travel.
There was anger in agricultural circles last night about the cancellation of the visit, especially because of the support given by Mr Walsh over the years to DANI and Northern agriculture.