Farmers today blocked attempts to dig pits for the burial of culled sheep in Northern Ireland.
They prevented the start of work in south Armagh not far from the farm at the centre of the North's only outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease.
|
The digging was due to begin at Slieve Gullion Forest Park but farmers claimed it would destroy an area of outstanding natural beauty.
An estimated 2,000 sheep are to be destroyed.
It is understood roads were blocked to prevent lorries and digging equipment being moved into the park.
Officials of the North's Department of Agriculture and representatives of the Ulster Farmers Union and the Northern Ireland Agriculture Producers Association are expected to have talks with the protesting farmers and local residents later today.
One of the protesters, Mr Paddy Tierney, said they wanted the sheep rendered at a plant in Lisburn, Co Antrim.
He said the park, was the finest tourist attraction in the area. "If we are going to lose our flocks, then they can leave us with a little bit of tourism," he said.
The Northern Ireland livestock industry was today given the green light to resume exports to Europe after being granted regional status, Agriculture Minister Ms Bríd Rodgers announced.
The decision was made after Department of Agriculture officials successfully argued their case at the European Commission Standing Veterinary Committee in Brussels.
Ms Rodgers said that the ban on meat, livestock and dairy products would be lifted from April 3rd subject to there being no further outbreaks of foot-and-mouth disease.
She said: "I am, of course, very disappointed that the decision does not take immediate effect.
"I would like to pay tribute to everyone in my own department together with those from other departments who have put in many long hours of hard work often in miserable weather conditions to get to this point."
Meanwhile the slaughter of thousands of sheep along the border began today, to create a sterile corridor in the fight against the spread of foot-and-mouth disease.
Yesterday the Minister for Agriculture, Mr Walsh, and Stormont’s Agriculture Minister announced a joint cull, involving around 20,000 animals, between Meigh, Co Armagh and Proleek, Co Louth.
Ms Bríd Rodgers said the purpose of the cull was to eradicate any trace of the virus which may be present in the areas where the two outbreaks were confirmed.
The Department of Agriculture said the cull would be extended to three kilometres around the infected Ravensdale farm in Co Louth, while around 2,000 would be slaughtered in the three-kilometre zone around Meigh.
Mr Walsh said Army marksmen will be called in to cull wild goats and deer in the area which are another source of potential spread of the disease.
Additional reporting by PA