A sheepish An Post hopes cool Minty's greeting won't offend

Anglo-Irish relations could come under renewed strain next week, thanks to a St Patrick's Day greeting card from An Post.

As foot-and-mouth disease continues to rage through Britain, the company is selling 100,000 cards - many of them bound for Britain - featuring an Irish sheep called "Minty" and the message: "The grass is greener on my side."

Sheep have been dominant in the spread of the virus through the UK, and the main reason behind fears of an outbreak in the Republic. Indeed, the so-called "Celticisation" of English sheep - a process in which rogue traders introduce the migrants into Northern Ireland en route to slaughter in the South - has increased the risk here.

The An Post sheep is aggressively Celtic, with its wool dyed green and a shamrock shaved into its fleece, a la boxer Steve Collins. It has no ear tags, suggesting Irish nationality. But it also has a dazed, faintly smiling expression, which could be consistent with inhaling the super-glue used by some smugglers to fill in the holes left by missing tags.

A spokeswoman for An Post admitted it had occurred to GPO staff the cards might cause a diplomatic incident, "but they were printed long before foot-and-mouth disease broke out".

Controversial or not, she said, the sheep and the seven other designs were going fast, with sales to date well up on last year.

"We've produced a total of one million cards and we expect them to sell out."

Less contentious designs in the series include St Patrick's Prayer and a scene from last year's Dublin parade. And retailing at 65p for postcards and £1.30 for greeting cards - both prices including postage to anywhere in the world - the products have become a major money-spinner for An Post since introduced in the 1980s.

Britain is the main market for the cards, accounting for 39 per cent. The USA and Canada receive 22 per cent, Ireland 18 per cent, Australia/New Zealand 13 per cent, continental Europe 6 per cent and the rest of the world 2 per cent.

An Post's spokeswoman was confident the 100,000 sheep welcomes would not cause serious offence. She also insisted Minty, despite the green tinge, was a completely healthy animal. "We think (s)he's very attractive. Perked-up ears, a lovely wet nose and a happy smile, (s)he's in his or her prime, in fact."