The farmer responsible for importing to the Republic a consignment of sheep which were linked to foot-and-mouth last month has apologised for what he described as a "stupid mistake".
Mr John Walsh (47), originally from Co Wicklow but recently living in the midlands, said he did not intend to jeopardise the industry. If he could turn the clock back, he said, he would not do what he had done.
Speaking on RTE radio's Liveline yesterday, he said he bought a consignment of sheep in Carlisle on Thursday, February 15th, which, he said, was a week before the foot-and-mouth outbreak was confirmed in the UK. "They were bought on the Thursday. They were exported to Ireland on Sunday. Foot-andmouth wasn't confirmed in England, I believe, until Wednesday or Thursday."
The sheep were brought to Meigh in Co Armagh - where the only case of foot-and-mouth disease in the North has been confirmed - and subsequently to Athleague, Co Roscommon, for slaughter at a Kepak factory.
He refused to describe what he did as "smuggling", yet he confirmed he brought the sheep across the Border on the night of Monday, February 19th. He said Kepak took them in during the night.
Speaking from the UK, he confirmed he had been interviewed by the National Bureau of Criminal Investigation. He said they were interested in tracking down all sheep which were brought in, adding that the gardai did not indicate that they wished to interview him again.
Mr Walsh, who until recently ran a farm near Birr, Co Offaly, accepted the trade was being jeopardised by rogue dealers and said: "I would personally not do it again for any money." He suggested a programme should be introduced under which all animals would be micro-chipped.
"Everyone's looking for cheap meat," he said. But "there's no such thing as cheap and good". He said the tags which were already in use "haven't been proved satisfactory to anyone". Asked if they were simple to remove, he replied: "Go down to the store where they are and buy a tag and a pliers and see what you're talking about."
He declined to comment on how much profit he would have made on the load and said money was not an issue to him now.
He said he was just holding his breath "that no foot-and-mouth gets into southern Ireland and hopefully people will learn by this lesson".
Asked to respond to those who felt he was a "traitor" to his country, he replied: "All I can say is - do you think for one moment that I would even contemplate bringing in an infected animal into, not alone Northern Ireland, but southern Ireland?
"Would the people in the market where they were bought allow the market to go ahead if they knew there was an infected animal in the place? So, like, how can you be a traitor when you didn't know what you were handling?"
He continued: "That was the first time I delivered a load from Carlisle to Athleague." Asked if it was the first time he delivered a load over the Border to Athleague, he replied: "Yes."
He added he was "a thousand per cent sorry . . . I didn't know, or no one knew, the day them animals were bought that there was foot-and-mouth in England, Scotland or Wales."
Questioned about his business, he said: "A man has to make a living. I buy and sell sheep. I bought and sold sheep. I paid for the sheep. I got paid for the sheep. End of the story. That the foot animal came in is a horrible accident, and you can't turn back the clock."