Last Thursday week the Taoiseach opened the Order of Business in Dail Eireann with the announcement that foot-and-mouth disease had been confirmed in Proleek, Co Louth. The sense of shock throughout the House was palpable. For Seamus Kirk and Dermot Ahern the news was devastating. It was also a terrible time for their Opposition colleagues, Brendan McGahon and Michael Bell, and the misery continues.
Immediately the cull began in the 3km exclusion zone around Proleek. The surrounding 10km, including Dundalk, was placed within the surveillance zone.
It is particularly unfortunate that this rapidly developing part of Ireland was affected. No part of this State was more damaged by the Troubles than north Louth, in both human and economic terms. Equally, no part of the State has reaped the benefits of peace as much.
In just 10 years Dundalk and its environs have utterly shed the old unfortunate El Paso image. The confident Dundalk, which Bill Clinton so recently visited, bore no resemblance to the 1980s run-down impression which some, ridiculously, still hold.
The countryside between Dundalk, Carlingford and Crossmaglen is among the most beautiful on this island. We can only hope that the disease does not affect the long-term prospects for its growing tourist industry.
Of course, this emergency affects us all. Today there are more than 750 gardai on duty at 141 Border crossings enforcing disinfection arrangements, while a further 200 gardai are working at ports and airports. Livestock marts have been banned, as has the movement of all susceptible animals other than those going for slaughter.
More than 700 flocks around the country have been placed under restriction. Emergency legislation has been introduced providing the power to regulate dealers and forbidding the resale of animals within 30 days of purchase. This is a national emergency, warranting a national response.
For urban deputies like myself, particularly the Dublin deputies for whom the reality of farming is a fairly distant occupation, the recent news and, indeed, the scares of the past few weeks brought home to us just how central agriculture remains to our society and economy.
Having witnessed for years at close quarters Joe Walsh's resolute and, at times, vociferous Cabinet-table representations of our farming community, I cannot claim complete ignorance. However, the farming community in Dun Laoghaire Rathdown is hardly numerous and, like most urban deputies, agriculture had not been a priority for me or my constituents.
A DECADE of boom in which the high-tech and urban economy has repeatedly grabbed the headlines and made us under-estimate the importance of agriculture. Indeed, a comparison of the Department of Foreign Affairs' excellent Facts About Ireland publication of 1961 and the most recent mid-1990s edition shows the extent to which we have become both industrialised and urbanised.
The 1961 edition reveals a lush, green, essentially rural society with the very beginnings of industrial development under Sean Lemass. The mid-1990s edition shows an altogether different island, with a relatively urban inclination and the focus on our then burgeoning Tiger economy.
Yet agriculture is worth upwards of £11 billion per annum to our economy today. It is the basis of countless thousands of livelihoods. However, it is more than a simple economic activity.
Our preoccupation with land, soil and acreage far precedes Charles Stewart Parnell and Michael Davitt. Television pictures of farmers literally crying over this disease and the effects on their farms and livelihoods can but confirm this.
Most commentators to date have given credit to the reaction of the Government, State agencies and the population at large. Although the coalition may yet encounter criticism, the majority of the population, I believe, are totally committed to the great efforts being made to contain the plague. Indeed, as the Taoiseach has already mentioned, the sense of national purpose has been inspiring.
Added to the immense efforts of the Minister for Agriculture at stemming the foot-and-mouth tide, Tom Parlon, president of the Irish Farmers' Association, has shown great qualities of leadership in this time of national crisis. He is a worthy representative of the farming community.
The Minister of State for Agriculture, Noel Davern, on television, radio and elsewhere, has blossomed in our hour of need. He is articulate and serious and has shown much steel in his resolution to defeat the insidious virus.
Another to show a very positive response is Willie Penrose, Labour Party spokesman on agriculture. Alan Dukes, the able Fine Gael spokesman, has a deep knowledge of this treacherous disease.
It all reads somewhat like a litany of the saints, but the words of commendation are hard-earned and, sadly, there are more stressful days ahead for them.
It may be of no consolation whatever to those farmers who have suffered much personal trauma and financial loss to be certain that urban Ireland stands in strong solidarity with them. These words are about expressing support for our rural people but we must not forget the collateral damage being done to the tourist industry and much else besides.
A compensation package will not fully repair the image of headlands empty of livestock and vacant tourist bedrooms in our hotels and guesthouses. But such help should be put in place urgently.