The Government is to convene a top-level group to co-ordinate management of the foot-and-mouth crisis. At a special Cabinet meeting last night, it was decided the group would meet every morning to review the situation and recommend any further necessary measures.
The group comprises representatives from the Departments of the Taoiseach, Agriculture, Public Enterprise and Finance, and from the Garda, the Army and transport companies.
Yesterday the Minister for Agriculture briefed the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, by phone from Brussels on the crisis, which Mr Walsh has described as a "national emergency". This followed the spread of the disease to Wales, less than 60 miles from the Republic, which has heightened concerns about this State's ability to prevent it being carried here.
Mr Ahern will discuss the growing problem with the British Prime Minister, Mr Tony Blair, at their meeting in Downing Street later tonight.
Mr Walsh, who had been severely criticised in a Dail debate for a lack of controls to protect the State, said there was an obvious epidemic in Britain which now had 18 confirmed outbreaks. This was creating "a crisis situation" in the State.
On the spread of the disease to an abattoir in Anglesey, Mr Walsh said developments in Britain posed a real threat to Ireland given the volume of traffic through Holyhead.
Following a briefing in Brussels from the British Minister of Agriculture, Mr Nick Brown, Mr Walsh announced controls which include the banning of all horse and greyhound racing and the importation of these animals from Britain.
His "strong advice" to the IRFU to postpone Saturday's Ireland match with Wales in Cardiff bore fruit in the late afternoon with its cancellation, as well as confirmation of the suspension of all racing by the Irish Horseracing Authority. The Minister also won the support of the main farm organisations for stricter controls on all movements. These include every visitor from the UK passing over disinfecting mats.
In the Dail debate on the Government's handling of the crisis, the Fine Gael spokesman on agriculture, Mr Alan Dukes, said that so far it had been "appallingly negligent, appallingly casual and utterly out of keeping with what is required in the circumstances".
Mr Jim O'Keeffe (FG) said the Government had dealt with the problem "with a series of ad-hoc measures in instalments". He wanted to know what further measures were contemplated.
The Labour Party spokesman on agriculture, Mr Willie Pen rose, said the importance of agriculture to the economy meant there was no use engaging in half-hearted responses.
The Minister of State for Agriculture, Mr Noel Davern, said the Government was acutely aware of the potential risk to agriculture and the economy generally and had taken a range of measures. "We know how important the industry is. It is three times larger here than any other EU country," he said.
The Labour spokeswoman on food safety, Dr Mary Upton, said a real threat was posed to Ireland. The disinfection programme, irrespective of its effectiveness, was largely cosmetic.
An Bord Gais and the National Roads Authority last night agreed to suspend survey work on farms at the request of the IFA. In the North, where 100 farms are being investigated, no cases of the disease have been uncovered.