The public was warned last night that it may be months before the defences and restrictions to prevent the spread of foot-and-mouth from Britain can be dismantled.
Following a meeting of EU farm ministers in Brussels, the Minister for Agriculture, Mr Walsh, said it was clear Ireland and the EU were "in this for the long haul".
He said the "Fortress Ireland" approach would have to remain in place to protect the animals, and farmers would have to continue to protect their farms from the spread of the disease.
Earlier, Mr Walsh listened to a report from Britain's Agricultural Minister, Mr Nick Brown, who said the UK was doing all it could to stop the spread of the disease across the rest of the EU.
"I'm going to make it absolutely clear that we're going to confine this disease to Great Britain, isolate it and exterminate it," Mr Brown told his EU colleagues. He also reported that there had been 335 confirmed cases of the disease in the UK.
EU ministers were relieved no cases had been found on the European mainland since the disease was detected a week ago in six cattle on a farm in northwest France.
"I can tell you today, dear colleagues, that the outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease detected in Mayenne on March 13th is contained and mastered by the French veterinary services," French Agriculture Minister, Mr Jean Glavany, told the meeting.
He appealed for a lifting of restrictions on French exports from March 27th if no further cases were found in France.
Mr Glavany opened a crisis centre yesterday in France and announced monetary aid for farmers facing hardships amid measures to curb the disease.
Ministers continued to resist calls for a vaccination campaign and maintained that restricting livestock movements was the best way of handling the outbreak.
"We should not move to a vaccination policy," Mr Brown said. "We may have to retreat to it, but it would be a substantial retreat. By far and away the best policy is the current one."
Veterinary experts here said yesterday the British authorities are considering placing healthy cattle in sheep flocks in Britain to help detect the disease. Foot-and-mouth is difficult to spot in sheep, but quickly infects cattle, which show signs of infection.