The onus has been placed on event organisers and groups from today to decide whether public events will be permitted to go ahead in light of foot-and-mouth outbreak in Co Louth.
The Department of Agriculture announced this afternoon its guidelines on restrictions, imposed since the discovery of foot-and-mouth disease in Armagh on March 1st, will remain the same apart from the planning of public events.
A Department spokesman said the cull of about 3,000 sheep and 1,000 cattle at the foot-and-mouth infected farm in Louth is now almost complete.
A strategic cull of 13,500 sheep in the three kilometre zone around the farm will follow, he said. It may also include the slaughter of up to 3,500 cattle.
Earlier today Department officials confirmed there was no suspect case of foot-and-mouth in Co Laois as had been rumoured.
Mr Paul Savage told ireland.comthere was no suspect foot-and-mouth case in Laois and no samples had been taken.
"We are carrying out precautionary inspections around the country and this may well be happening in Laois. But no cases are suspected," he said.
It had been reported that Department officials had taken samples from a flock of sheep in Laois which were thought to have been delivered to the infected farm from Northern Ireland in recent weeks.
Mr Savage said the veterinary authorities were looking into all possible causes of the outbreak in Louth, adding "it looks like it is due to a secondary spread and there appears to be no direct link to the outbreak in Armagh".
The only other outbreak on the island was discovered in the North on a farm in Meigh in South Armagh on March 1st.
Northern Ireland's agricultural minister, Ms Brid Rodgers, told RTÉ radio there was a "strong possibility" there was a still unknown "intermediate infection" between the Meigh and Cooley cases.
Extra troops and gardaí were deployed today to assist in effectively sealing off the Co Louth area.
"We have tightened up the security around the exclusion zone in continued efforts to prevent a spread of the disease," Mr Savage said.
Meanwhile the EU Veterinary Committee has indicated Co Louth will be treated as a "region" so that food exports from the rest of Ireland can continue.
The EU Food Safety Commissioner, Mr David Byrne said yesterday Ireland's stringent measures against foot-and-mouth disease allowed the EU to limit yesterday's export ban to Co Louth.
Speaking in Brussels after the Commission imposed a ban on exports of livestock, meat and dairy products from the county, Mr Byrne praised the actions of the Government.
The Commission yesterday banned the export of live cattle, pigs, sheep and goats from the Republic but confined other measures to Co Louth.
According to Mr Savage the Department is awaiting final confirmation on the situation. He said this is expected either today or by next Tuesday.