In the frontline of the Foot & Mouth battle

February 2001

County Wexford’s farms have been declared virtual ‘no-go’ areas by the IFA, underpinning the fight by customs officers and agricultural inspectors at ‘frontline’ Rosslare Harbour to keep dreaded foot and mouth disease from our shores.

‘Other than the border with the North, we’re first in the line of fire here,’ said Adrian King, the IFA’s regional manager for the South East, urging farmers to stay at home and other people to stay off farm lands.

‘Basically, farms are now no-go areas...farmers should take all precautions on their own movements. We have already spoken to merchants and creameries with regards to disinfecting their vehicles.

‘What we’re basically telling farmers is to stay at home...and to walking groups, hunts, people exercising their dogs, etc., we would be grateful if you could stay off farmland too, in view of the seriousness of the situation.’

Mr King said that despite all the precautions, he believed there is still only a 50-50 chance of keeping the epidemic out, given the level of business contact with Britain through Rosslare Europort.

Customs officers and Department of Agriculture inspectors there are laboriously checking every car and truck coming off the ferries, with passengers only allowed to disembark after walking through disinfected mats and the undersides of cars and lorries being sprayed.

But given that the initial outbreak in Britain went unreported for two weeks, the fear is that the highly contagious disease could have already been brought in, although so far there is no evidence to suggest this.

‘ This most recent outbreak in Wales is closer to many parts of County Wexford than even County Carlow is,’ Mr King pointed out. ‘We’re shivering in our boots here.

‘If foot and mouth comes in, it will devastate the whole farm business, co-ops, marts, and their ability to get paid. It would substantially change farming as we know it,’ he said.