Just a few hours before the 280 sheep from a Co Louth farm were slaughtered yesterday, the Minister for Agriculture told the Dail there was no evidence of foot-and-mouth in the Republic.
Yesterday morning the country, and particularly the farmers of Louth, were praying that these were not famous last words.
At 11 p.m. on Thursday night a senior official from the Department of Agriculture decided the flock should be slaughtered, "as a precautionary measure". Within minutes the sealing off of the farm at Dromin was under way.
Gardai from Drogheda were called, and veterinary inspectors questioned the farmer who leased the sheds and owned the sheep.
It became clear that some of the flock had been sent to a Co Kildare rendering plant earlier in the week, possibly within the previous 48 hours. The decision was taken to seal off the plant as well.
Meanwhile, both the Minister, Mr Walsh, and the Garda Commissioner, Mr Pat Byrne, visited Louth together yesterday evening to inspect the Garda checkpoint on the main Dublin-Belfast road. Afterwards the Commissioner said he knew there were problems with tailbacks of traffic, but the first priority of gardai was to prevent the disease getting into the Republic.