The Minister for Agriculture, Mr Walsh, confirmed yesterday that hunting would remain banned for the time being because of foot-and-mouth.
However, the Minister told a press conference at the Kerry gold Dublin Horse Show that if a protocol for resuming hunting was agreed between the expert group advising him on controlling the disease and the hunting organisations, he might then be in a position to allow it.
The hunting organisations have been seeking permission to conduct limited forms of cub and fox hunting and have made a submission to the expert group on the issue. But, with up to 20 new cases each week being recorded in Britain, the Minister said he believed there remained a serious threat to the 20 million susceptible animals in the Republic.
Mr Walsh, who used the occasion again to warn farmers to increase their bio-security on farms to prevent the disease getting into the State, praised the controls put in place in the RDS.
He said negotiations were also ongoing between the expert group and FACE, the organisation representing wildfowlers.
The anti-blood sports organisations have been pressing the Minister to use the temporary ban on hunting as an opportunity to ban fox hunting completely.
The Irish Farmers' Association used the occasion of Ladies' Day to announce it is to implement a three-year equality programme to increase participation by farm women in decision-making within the organisation and the wider rural economy.
The chairwoman of the IFA Farm Family Committee, Mrs Betty Murphy, said women on farms, predominantly spouses, were "the hidden workforce".
Central Statistics Office figures showed women contributed about one-quarter of the total work and management input on Irish farms, she said.
She added that 9 per cent of the 600 voluntary officers in the IFA were women.
More than 500 women and about 20 men entered the competition for the best-dressed lady at the show. The prize of a SEAT Leon car worth £13,854 was won by Ms Regina Murphy of Edgesworthtown, Co Longford.