The return of sheep to the Cooley peninsula yesterday was a milestone for the 237 farmers who temporarily lost their livelihoods as a result of the foot-and-mouth outbreak.
"This really signifies the rebirth of the entire peninsula. It marks the beginning of the end of the trauma of foot-and-mouth and will act as a morale boost to the farm families of Cooley," said Mr Oliver Dillon, chief agricultural officer with Teagasc in Louth.
Approximately 54,000 animals were culled, of which just under 50,000 were sheep.
The Department of Agriculture granted a permit to the O'Hanlon family of Lislea Cross, Omeath, to allow sheep back on their land. It will monitor them on a regular basis.
With tears in his eyes, Mr Eddie O'Hanlon said: "I thought this day would never come."
He and his son Francis run the family farm. On Tuesday they travelled from Omeath to Blessington in Co Wicklow where they bought the 32 sheep.
Individual farmers can now apply to the Department's district veterinary office in Louth to restock. The farmers will be risk assessed and then given a permit to buy sheep for their farms.
Mr O'Hanlon finds it hard to put into words the emotions he felt as news spread among the farmers last March that the virus had been confirmed in a flock of sheep at Proleek.
"It was a terror. It happened so suddenly and everyone was caught up in it." The O'Hanlons lost nearly 400 sheep.
If there had been 400 sheep at the mart in Blessington, the O'Hanlon's would have bought them all.
"We were full of joy [travelling down] and especially when we got them. It was great to wake up at six o'clock this morning and see them there."
The new ewes are a mix of Suffolk Cross and Cheviot and are ideal for mountain terrain.
It could be up to two years before all the sheep the farmers want back on the Cooley mountains are there.
All sheep will be monitored before and after they arrive on the farms.