Minister for Agriculture Mary Coughlan expressed relief today after initial test results on cattle suspected of having foot and mouth disease returned negative.
The cattle were culled as a precautionary measure yesterday. They were from a farm in Surrey within the exclusion zone created around the location of two FMD outbreaks detected last week.
Ms Coughlan praised the UK's Agriculture ministry Defra for taking swift action and said her officials were maintaining close contact with their British and Northern Irish counterparts.
She was speaking after meeting Department of Agriculture experts monitoring the outbreak where the implications of a positive test result were considered.
It was concluded that while it would have been a concerning development, it would not have warranted further control measures here. Later it was confirmed the animals were FMD-free. Ms Coughlan said in a statement this afternoon that Ireland and Britain needed to "remain on high alert" and said farmers should regularly check their livestock and report any FMD-like symptoms to the Department.
The Department published updated biosecurity advice for the organisers of events at which animals are present such the Dublin Horse Show. Meanwhile, the UK's chief veterinary officer Debby Reynolds today ruled out vaccination as a means of containing the disease at this stage and said the infection may be contained in the Surrey area.
However, tests have been carried out on livestock near Dorking, outside the 10-km exclusion zone around the farms in Normandy where FMD has been confirmed. The results have yet to be published but the BBC this evening reports the samples tested negative.
The farmer whose livestock were slaughtered yesterday as a precautionary measure but later found to be FMD-free said he was "upset and shocked".
Defra said tests on the goats, sheep, cattle and pigs belonging to John Emerson of Hunt's Hill Farm showed they were healthy.
"The bigger picture is that by eradicating the disease from this small area, it will be good for the country and agriculture as a whole - looking at it like that makes it easier to accept," Mr Emerson said.
His farm is flanked by fields used by John Gunner, whose cattle tested positive, and by others used by Roger Pride, whose herd were the first infected.
Mr Emerson said he had been told he would receive the market value for culled animals not the retail value of the meat.
He said he had stg£10,000 worth of meat sitting ready to be sold which had now been condemned by Defra officials - a loss he said he would not be compensated for.
Additional reporting PA