Galway city and several county towns have decided to cancel St Patrick's Day parades, amid growing fears in the region about the spread of foot-and-mouth disease.
The IFA Galway county chairman, Mr John Mannion, has also appealed to people in rural areas to keep children home from school if necessary.
Sheep on three Galway farms, which were being monitored as part of the follow-up to the import of livestock from Northern Ireland to the Kepak plant in Co Roscommon, were given the all-clear at the weekend. A spokeswoman for the Department of Agriculture confirmed monitoring had been lifted.
Some 50 groups, including community organisations in Galway and participants from France, Scotland and the US, were due to take part in this year's parade, which normally marks the beginning of the tourist season in the west.
The co-ordinator, Mr Michael Diskin, said this year's parade was due to begin on the evening of March 16th with a flame ceremony from the Claddagh through the city streets in the company of pipe bands.
Organisers in Tuam, Ballinasloe and Tynagh also confirmed that their parades would be cancelled, and more county towns are expected to follow suit.
Galway Chamber of Commerce said that, while the cancellations would cause upset, every precaution had to be taken to contain the risk of disease. However, the impact on business may be minimal as it is believed many tourists will travel to the west for the weekend, in spite of appeals to reconsider.
Mr Mannion appealed to people to reconsider attending Mass or church. "I am talking about a short period - the high-risk period we are in of possible incubation of the disease - and if we can take every measure to try and prevent a spread, it may well be worth it," he said.
He added that the incident involving the delivery of lambs from south Armagh to Co Roscommon was not isolated. "People are naive to think that this illegal activity, which has been going on for some time and is aimed at depressing the price of lamb, is confined to one incident or one plant," he said.
He appealed to anyone with knowledge of such activities to report it to the authorities. "Obviously, an investigation is ongoing, and this is an issue for next week, but we have to close our borders against livestock movement."
Seafood exports are not affected by the restrictions, and movement permits for all live fish have been in existence for some years. However, the Irish Salmon Growers' Association said it was asking hauliers to respect the disinfection procedures for trucks.
The Western Health Board's monthly meeting due to take place this afternoon has also been postponed. It has asked staff who are in contact with farms to respect disinfection procedures, which have been installed at all public buildings.
