The Minister for Agriculture and Food, Mr Walsh, has been coming under increasing pressure to intervene in the Ballinamore Teagasc centre dispute which continued yesterday with picketing by locals in protest at the proposed closure of the centre.
Sinn Féin and Fine Gael appealed to Mr Walsh to prevail on Teagasc, the agriculture and food development authority, to reverse its decision to sell off the 70-acre dairy wetland research station in Co Leitrim.
The centre, where four people are employed, has been picketed since Monday. Two attempts to move cattle off the farm to another Teagasc centre have been thwarted by locals.
The around-the-clock picket eased somewhat overnight as the 40 animals Teagasc has been attempting to move now require a pre-movement brucellosis test before they can be legally taken off the farm.
While Teagasc was making no comment last night, the protesters believe they have delivered a message to Teagasc which it clearly did not understand up until now.
Mr Billy Timmins, the Fine Gael spokesman on agriculture, repeated his call on Mr Walsh to intervene in the dispute, but there was very harsh criticism from his party colleague, Senator Frank Feighan.
He criticised the deployment of gardaí in riot gear to deter small farmers protesting to protect their business and families.
The Sinn Féin spokesman on agriculture, Mr Martin Ferris, and Cavan Monaghan TD Mr Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin called on Mr Walsh to intervene to prevent the closure because of the importance of research which had been conducted there into dairying on difficult soils.
A spokesman for the Minister said last night the closure of the farm was a matter for Teagasc and its board.