FARMERS IN Co Cork, Co Tipperary and Co Monaghan reacted angrily last night to the signing of a beef export protocol with Russia that excludes animals from these three counties because of their high incidence of BSE.
The Minister for Agriculture, Mr Yates, said he was totally opposed to this regionalisation of the Republic's beef market but the Russian market - worth an estimated £300 million - was so important he had no choice but to sign the deal.
Mr Michael Slattery, a Tipperary farmer who is deputy president of the IFA, said the Minister's decision was "ridiculous". Ireland as a whole had a slaughtering policy in relation to BSE which absolutely guaranteed the safety of Irish beef.
Mr Billy Nicholson, a beef and tillage farmer in Co Cork, said it was "disgraceful" to single out three counties as Mr Yates had agreed to do. Cork was bound to have a high incidence of BSE, he added, simply because it was the biggest county with the most intensive beef farming. "Mr Yates has sold the farmers in three counties," Mr Nicholson said.
Mr Paddy Sherlock, a dairy farmer in Co Monaghan, said Mr Yates had blackened the reputations of three counties. "This is the biggest catastrophe to hit farming in Monaghan. If Mr Yates was unable to negotiate a satisfactory deal with the Russians, he should have handed over to the Taoiseach. Mr Yates has gained no friends for Fine Gael in Monaghan."
The Fianna Fail spokesman on agriculture, Mr Brian Cowen, said the signing of the protocol with Russia had potentially very damaging consequences beyond Cork, Tipperary and Monaghan.
"Given the difficulty in getting consumers to differentiate Irish from British beef, separating counties is a marketing nightmare." Mr Yates had made it possible for competitors to say that Irish beef was not safe, Mr Cowen claimed.
The IFA nationaI livestock committee chairman, Mr Raymond O'Malley, accused Mr Yates of botching the negotiations over the Russian beef trade.
Mr O'Malley said the IFA would not accept the creation of internal borders which barred certain farmers from their legitimate right to trade their beef internationally.
However, the other main farming organisation, the ICSMA, welcomed Mr Yates's announcement. Its president, Mr Frank Allen, said the outcome was the best that could be achieved at this time, though he regretted the exclusion of beef from the three counties.
Mr Yates told a press conference in his Department there was no scientific basis for the regionalisation the Russians insisted on, and beef from Cork, Tipperary and Monaghan is "completely safe". It was only the size and importance of the Russian market to the Irish beef trade that had led him to agree to the terms.
The Russian market accounts for more than 100,000 tonnes and is currently Ireland's single biggest. Russia will have a vet based in Ireland to monitor the sourcing of beef. Mr Yates said he would have the full co-operation of his Department.
Mr Yates added that the new system, which comes into effect on November 1st, is only temporary and will be reviewed every three months. The Minister said be would visit Russia to try to get it to lift the ban on beef from Cork, Tipperary and Monaghan.
He also told the press conference that substantial progress had been made in relation to the Saudi Arabian and Iranian markets. Mr Yates said he planned an early visit to Iran to finalise the lifting of the ban in that market.
Another case of BSE has been confirmed in Co Monaghan. It involves a six-year-old cow in a herd of 140 animals. This brings to 151 the number of cases in the national herd.