Sports events scheduled for this weekend and next week have not yet been cancelled because of yesterday's foot-and-mouth outbreak in Louth. The Irish Masters snooker event, All-Ireland League in rugby and league and cup fixtures in soccer will go ahead as planned, while men's and women's hockey competitions are also set to resume.

The first round of the Irish Masters begins in the Citywest Hotel on Tuesday, 27th March and is scheduled to run until Sunday, April 1st. The competition has attracted eight of the world's top-ranked players and organisers say most of the spectators will be from the Dublin area.

The All-Ireland League in rugby, with the exception of Midleton's game against City of Derry, will resume while the Leinster Schools' Senior Cup final between Blackrock and Terenure will go ahead at Lansdowne Road on Sunday. The match is expected to attract in excess of 15,000 supporters.

In soccer, 10 league and FAI Cup games will take place over the weekend as scheduled, with only one match - Dundalk against Portmarnock at Oriel Park - in some doubt. The match has been postponed four times already but because of the proximity to the most recent outbreak it is again under threat, although it has not been officially cancelled.