Confusion over missing sheep

26 March 2001



Confusion over ‘missing’ sheep

By FWi staff

CONFUSION surrounds claims that missing sheep suspected of carrying foot-and-mouth disease into Ireland have been recovered.

Northern Ireland, Minister of Agriculture Brid Rodgers has announced that the animals have been found across the border by Irish authorities.

But in Dublin the Department of Agriculture denies making any such claims and says it will presently issue a statement clarifying the situation.

In a statement to the Northern Ireland Assembly Ms Rodgers said: “Dublin has now advised us that they have located a number of sheep which, in their view, are the missing animals to which I referred in my last Statement to the Assembly.”

Estimates of the number of sheep involved range between 30 and 60.

A spokeswoman the Irish Department of Agriculture said: “Its inaccurate to say that we have found 60 missing sheep. That never happened.”

To date there has been one confirmed outbreak of foot-and-mouth to date in Northern Ireland, in Meigh, south Armagh.

Some of the sheep suspected of carrying the disease, which were bought in Cumbria, were sold across the border.

The first outbreak in Ireland was confirmed just across the border from Meigh last week at a farm in County Louth.