The North's Agriculture Minister, Mrs Brid Rodgers, has held an urgent meeting with the Minister for Agriculture, Mr Walsh, to consider the implications of the North's two most recent outbreaks of foot-and-mouth disease in Antrim and Tyrone.
In a show of unity, Mrs Rodgers and Mr Walsh agreed at a press conference afterwards that the crisis was an "all-island problem". The two jurisdictions would increase their co-operation in the areas of tracing and tracking animals to prevent a further spread of the disease, they announced.
"With three million sheep in the North and seven million in the Republic, we are both in a unique position within the EU. Our farmers have a similar profile and there is a great deal of interaction between the industries on both sides. That is why everything possible that can be done is being done," Mr Walsh insisted.
The two ministers agreed the slaughter policy pursued in both parts of the island was broadly the same.
Mrs Rodgers hoped the Assembly would adopt similarly stringent legislation dealing with people involved in illegal animal movement as the Republic.
"It is unthinkable that there are farmers out there who would not co-operate with us knowing that the illegal movement of animals is the main cause of foot-and-mouth. Let them have no doubt that we will investigate them vigorously and pursue prosecutions against them - anything else would be unfair to society," she said.
Mr Walsh reiterated his message to offenders that the "island of Ireland will be a very unpleasant place indeed" for them. "They are endangering up to 30 million animals and the economies on both sides of the Border and we are determined to root them out," he added.
Both Ministers said their Departments had identified sheep as the source of the outbreak. What was vital in preventing any spread of the disease was that cattle would not be allowed to mix with sheep.