NEARLY 5,000 Irish cattle are to be discharged from three cattle boats in Alexandria, Egypt, today. This may signal the first breakthrough by Ireland into international markets since the BSE scare began.
The scare has already led to 2,000 lay offs in the Republic's factories, falling cattle prices and overseas bans on Irish beef.
It is not clear if the Egyptian authorities will lift the ban on European beef totally, and allow a fourth shipment of Irish animals into the country. But the decision was being seen yesterday as the first glimmer of recovery in the 10 day crisis.
At the EU summit in Turin, the Taoiseach, Mr Bruton, said the Irish cattle would be allowed into Egypt following his telephone conversation with the Egyptian President, Mr Hosni Mubarak, who placed a ban on all European imports last weekend.
It was also learned that the EU Agricultural Commissioner, Mr Franz Fischler, wrote a letter to Mr Mubarak which he received yesterday morning. It said there was nothing wrong with Irish beef, and it was circulating freely in the rest of Europe.
At the summit, Mr Major received promises of support, including financial backing, from the other EU states to cope with Britain's BSE problems.
In Britain, beef consumption has fallen by 60 per cent. An Bord Bia announced that the Tesco and Sainsburys chains had decided to offer branded Irish beef for sale in more than 900 stores in England and Wales.
The board also opened its special beef information help line for the public. This received nearly 250 calls, most of them about the safety of beef. It referred specialist questions on beef derivatives to an inter departmental advisory group established by the Department of Enterprise and Employment.
The Minister of State at that Department, Mr Pat Rabbitte, announced that the group would represent Government Departments, producers, retailers and consumers, to monitor the implications of the British beef ban.
But on the negative side it was learned that more than 2,000 of the 5,000 workers in the State's meat processing plants have received notice because of the impact of the crisis.
Mr Ciaran Fitzgerald of IBEC, the employers' organisation, said the industry was "holding its breath" in the hope of some breakthrough to ease the problems here.
"Virtually all the 20 export plants in Ireland have ceased killing animals and protective notice has been issued to most of the 5,000 workers," he said.
The current crisis placed at risk not only the factories and their workers but also the 9,000 jobs which depended on the trade and the 60,000 beef producing farmers who supplied the industry, he said.
Mr John Smith, of the Irish Meat Processors' Association, said the decision of the EU Veterinary Committee to place Ireland in the same grouping as the other 13 EU member states was of crucial importance in increasing sales of Irish beef throughout the world.
On Monday the Minister for Agriculture, Mr Yates, will attends an emergency meeting of farm ministers in Luxembourg. He will seek an amended EU intervention scheme for Irish beef farmers, and EU support for a major publicity campaign to assist the recovery of the trade in Europe.
In Belfast, thousands of angry Northern Ireland farmers facing ruin over the EU ban on beef exports gathered at the King's Hall demanding compensation for their loss of income.
They are looking for support from the British government and from the farm ministers meeting next Monday.