Drastic measures to prevent spread of Foot and Mouth
All meat products from Britain and the North have been banned in a desperate bid to prevent an outbreak of Foot and Mouth disease in Ireland.
Department of Agriculture officials are on red alert this evening following the detection of the highly infectious virus in Britain.
Security at border crossings, ports and the nation's airports is being stepped up and extra gardai are being drafted in to cope with the unfolding crisis.
Meanwhile the British government is this evening imposing it's own emergency controls on the export of live animals, meat products and milk.
The measures also include a five-mile exclusion zone around the source of the outbreak in Essex.
