Farmers were today warned to remain vigilant to avoid the "tragedy" that hit Britain in the 1960s, when a second outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease hit just as the first came under control.
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After what was called a "constructive, friendly and helpful meeting" between the North/South Ministerial Council today, Northern Ireland Minister of Agriculture Ms Bríd Rogers joined the Minister for Agriculture Mr Walsh in sending a strong message to farmers to avoid complacency.
Ms Rogers said she was concerned that people might think the foot-and-mouth crisis was over now that the Armagh and Louth outbreaks had been contained.
"It's by no means over yet", she said. "The virus is clearly still around the border area...it would be a tragedy at this stage if someone became complacent".
Mr Walsh added it would be an "absolute tragedy" if the April 19th deadline, when the State will be free of the disease for 30 days, was not reached successfully.
Today's meeting specifically dealt with the issues of traceability of animals North and South of the Border, promotion of animal health and control of animal movements.
Mr Walsh said a traceability system would be put in place and he expected to be in a position to report further on the issue after the next North/South Council meeting in June.
He said there were plans for a "twin track approach" which would utilise data from both regions to identify animals that turned up either North or South of the Border.
He also said the Department had now received some "useful information" about the smugglers responsible for foot-and-mouth on the island of Ireland. But he added: "after six weeks, it's about time we got it".