The Minister for Agriculture, Mr Walsh, has expressed relief following the news that initial tests for foot-and-mouth disease on samples from sheep on a Co Louth farm have proved negative.
Mr Walsh said he was cautiously optimistic that the Republic would escape an outbreak of the disease.
The samples were being processed in Britain, the only authorised testing facilities in these islands, and they indicated the tests were negative. But these results are only preliminary and further tests are to be conducted.
Following a meeting with the Irish Farmers Association, the Department of Agriculture has also announced its intention to introduce further restrictions on the movement of animals.
IFA President Mr Tom Parlon said in a statement it had been agreed that livestock movement would be further restricted and all slaughterings would be suspended from midnight tonight.
This was to allow the finalisation of the a new permit which will certify the movement of animals to abattoirs or meat plants.
The IFA also agreed the introduction of a new sheep traceabilty and tagging system for this year's lamb flock.
The Government task force also meet this morning to review the foot-and-mouth situation.
A spokesman for the Department for Agriculture said earlier a contingency plan, which would be immediately implemented should an outbreak be confirmed, has already been drawn up. This is thought to include closing schools and other public places and restricting movements of people and vehicles in areas where an outbreak might occur.
The developments come as investigations continue at three locations in the Republic; at a farm in Co Louth, the Kildare Chilling plant and at Kepak meat-processing plant in Athleague, Co Roscommon.
The Department has confirmed the US has decided against imposing a ban on Irish food imports. This follows a briefing between Irish and US officials at an embassy level, the spokesman said.
Northern Ireland Agriculture Minister Ms Brid Rodgers was also positive today when she announced further tests on farms in the North showed there were no further suspect cases of foot-and-mouth disease.
She said other than one confirmed case there are no other cases which have necessitated sending samples to be tested. About a 1,000 pigs have already been slaughtered as precautionary measure on a farm in South Armagh.
Another five cases of foot-and-mouth disease were confirmed in Cumbria, Lancashire and Oxfordshire this afternoon, bringing the total number of cases in the UK to 48, the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food said.
Across Europe fears are growing about the possible spread of foot-and-mouth onto the continent.
The Belgium Agriculture Ministry has banned the transportation of farm animals after a suspected case of foot-and-mouth disease was found in the North of the country.
France yesterday was the first country to impose a temporary ban on the import of live animals from Ireland as a precautionary measure, while Czech authorities have ordered border checks and disinfectant measures.