It is one day short of 90 days since the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, confirmed to a hushed Dail that the Republic had an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease, the first in 60 years, at Proleek, Co Louth.
The disease had been identified in Britain on February 20th. By March 1st it had reached Meigh, south Armagh and on March 22nd it was found in sheep on a Border farm at Proleek.
The disease was spread by sheep that were imported from Britain, some of which had been imported illegally and some of which were presented at meat plants in the Republic as "Irish" sheep on which a VAT refund was paid.
The greatest threat to the State and its 17 million susceptible animals came from a specific load of sheep that had been imported into Northern Ireland from Carlisle and had come into contact with infected animals in Britain.
The Irish Times was first to break the news of the frantic search for these animals and a similar load that had come into the North on that weekend in February and had passed through Meigh, on the Armagh/ Louth border.
The action of the Northern Executive in implementing an immediate ban on livestock imports from England, Scotland and Wales was a key factor in preventing the island as a whole from getting many more cases.
The Department of Agriculture in the Republic can also pride itself on the sealing of the Border even before the Meigh case was confirmed on March 1st, when there was a total clampdown on movement.
The Minister for Agriculture, Mr Walsh, had been advised to establish a major control centre across the Border from the Meigh outbreak and this too was of vital importance when the disease was identified in Co Louth.
Above all, the response of the Irish public to the crisis, which saw the cancellation of St Patrick's Day celebrations on March 17th, and the cancellations of other sporting, cultural and religious meetings, was magnificent.
Their goodwill had to be matched by a clean-up of some of the unsavoury practices uncovered by the investigations which flowed from attempts to stop the spread of the disease.
Top of that list was the need to have all sheep in the country identified by tags, something that had been opposed by the farm organisations. It is now law.
This should bring an end to practice of some farmers claiming subsidies for sheep that did not exist. In the Cooley peninsula, for instance, claims were being made for over 6,600 ewes that could not be found when all sheep in the area were slaughtered to stop the disease spreading.
The irregularities that had been going on there had been highlighted by The Irish Times. As a result of the Cooley disclosures, a nationwide check of flocks is currently under way.
Cattle traders are now licensed under emergency legislation, which was rushed through the Dail on March 7th and 8th. With all movements of animals banned except under permit, for the first time since the foundation of the State the full picture of smuggling was brought into focus.
Farmers and smugglers began abandoning calves they had imported illegally from the North and in an ongoing Garda investigation, more than two dozen people are facing charges.
It is now four months since the disease hit Britain. On the island of Ireland there have been five cases, four in the North and one in the Republic.
Restrictions still remain on sheep and pig movement but today marts, banned since February 26th, can begin to operate and move towards normality and in a new, more transparent environment.
Farmers in the Cooley Peninsula who lost their livelihoods and livestock because of foot and mouth, say they are enraged at the low levels of compensation offered after the Department of Agriculture reviewed its original valuation of the culled flocks.