A complete ban on the live cattle trade from Ireland would make compelling economic sense in addition to saving the animals distress, which remains inevitable despite new regulations, according to Compassion in World Farming.
The animal welfare group mounted a protest outside the Department of Agriculture yesterday and received the backing of a political alliance including the Green Party, a Labour MEP, Ms Bernie Malone, and Independent TD, Mr Tony Gregory. The protest coincided with the Department's involvement in intensive discussions seeking the resumption of live trade with Egypt and Europe, potentially worth £250 million a year.
The group handed in a letter to the Minister for Agriculture, Mr Walsh, outlining how emphasis on meat rather than live trade could generate higher turnover through increased processing in Ireland and create more jobs.
A petition seeking a ban, signed by more than 6,000 people, was also submitted. "The Government and farm/export lobby groups are spending considerable time and effort in trying to reopen trade in live cattle and to increase capacity for animals to be shipped to the continent for slaughter or fattening," Ms Mary-Anne Bartlett, director of the animal welfare group, said.
Irish Ferries was the only ferry company prepared to take cattle, while P & O, she claimed, stopped taking slaughter animals on its Pandoro route after carrying out trial shipments to test new EU and Irish legislation.
A Green Party TD, Mr John Gormley, called on the Government to "strengthen the meat processing sector rather than focus on continuation of live animal exports, where it's impossible to ensure cattle are treated compassionately".
The IFA said Government intervention was necessary to ensure resumption of live exports with the peak killing season looming. This was necessary to ensure an autumn price of at least 85p per lb.
Pandoro began winding down its Irish services in 1994. This coincided with animal welfare protests.
As legislation was strengthened, relating to how cattle are handled and journey times, the previous government made a deal with the company to resume services after farmers blockaded ports. The resumption promise was not delivered on, the IFA president, Mr John Donnelly, warned in July when he called on the new Government not to allow a British shipping company with a dominant market position to dictate right of access of Irish farmers to the European livestock trade. Early this month, the High Court refused to order that Pandoro keep open its Rosslare-Cherbourg shipping service.
Mr Justice Costello noted evidence that the company's decision to withdraw from the route was motivated by the actions of animal welfare interests. He had been told the decision to terminate was for commercial reasons. But he did not find that Pandoro had abused its dominant position or that its stance constituted a quantitative restriction of exports between EU states.
The decision was a "deep disappointment", the European Livestock Exporters' Association said. The absence of adequate live trade services threatened the livelihoods of hauliers and others who had invested heavily in the business at the behest of the Department.
Live exports were an "integral part" of Irish agriculture, the Department said in response to Compassion in World Farming.
"Surplus production must be disposed of in markets which are available. That inevitably involves live exports," a spokesman said.
