Confirmed Case of BSE in Meath Cow
IRELAND - The Department of Agriculture is investigating an outbreak of the cattle brain disease BSE in a five-year-old dairy cow in Meath during the week.

Walshe Asks for Stricter Tests on BSE
IRELAND - Padraig Walshe, the president of the Irish Farmers' Association, has said that after almost 20 years, the scourge of BSE is finally beaten. Last year, 25 cases were identified in Ireland.

IFA Welcomes EU Proposal to Reduce Cost Of BSE Testing
IRELAND - IFA national Livestock Chairman John Bryan this week welcomed the proposal from the EU Commission to increase the age limit for BSE testing from 30 months to 42 months of age. He said this will remove all prime beef cattle from the €20 per head...

ICSA Calls for Immediate Action to Phase Out BSE Testing
IRELAND - ICSA HAS met Minister Mary Coughlan to demand immediate action to phase out BSE testing.

Irish BSE Butchers Ordered To Stop
IRELAND - FIVE butchers and a supermarket have been ordered to stop selling beef that was found to contain spinal parts that could transmit the fatal BSE infection.

Company recalls meat due to breach of BSE safety rules
NORTHERN IRELAND - A Northern Ireland company is recalling thousands of cuts of meat sold in the UK, France, Italy and Spain after a breach of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) safety procedures allowed an untested cow into the food chain. The...

British beef is clear for export
IRELAND - Ten years after the height of the mad cow crisis, British beef was finally cleared for export to Ireland and the rest of the EU last night. EU veterinary experts first imposed the ban when BSE was discovered in the British national herd, leading...

Egypt removes remaining restrictions on Irish beef imports
IRELAND - The Egyptian authorities have removed all remaining restrictions to imports of Irish beef, according to Agriculture Minister Mary Coughlan. In November 2000, the Middle Eastern country suspended all beef imports from EU countries due to the...

Number of BSE cases has halved in past year
IRELAND - The number of BSE cases being detected in Ireland has more than halved in the past year, according to figures published today by the Department of Agriculture. The department said just one case of the disease was detected in an 11-year-old...

Four new Irish BSE cases this week
IRELAND - Four new BSE cases were detected in Ireland this week, according to figures released by the Department of Agriculture today. The department said the disease was detected in three dairy cows aged between nine and 10 years in Cork, Limerick...

Farms to operate BSE cull
NORTHERN IRELAND - Almost 700 cattle will be culled from 200 Northern Ireland farms because of BSE. They are the cohorts - born on or after August 1996 of parent cattle found to have had the disease. The operation is part of a managed transition towards...

One new BSE case in Ireland
IRELAND - Just one new case of BSE was detected in Ireland this week, according to figures published today by the Department of Agriculture. Source: IOL

Calls for testing of imported animal feed
IRELAND - The seizure of consignments of animal feed containing potentially BSE-contaminated traces of bone was a worrying development for Irish agriculture, according to the Labour Party spokeswoman on agriculture, Dr Mary Upton. Source: Hoov...

NI cattle not tested for BSE
NORTHERN IRELAND - Northern Ireland's Department of Agriculture is being blamed for failing to test nine cattle which should have been screened for the brain disease BSE. The animals were considered a risk as they had sustained injuries - suggesting...

BSE declines in Ireland, but a troubling new case appears
IRELAND - New instances of bovine spongiform encephalopathy in Ireland have dropped by a third from 2003, from 146 to 100, but a case has been discovered in a 6-year-old dairy cow, which was born after regulations went into effect banning the introduction...

Call For More BSE Testing To Beat Ban
NORTHERN IRELAND - A wider BSE testing programme in Northern Ireland to boost the case for a return to commercial beef exporting was urged yesterday by the Ulster Farmers' Union. The Union said a recent report by the EU Commission's Food and Veterinary...

Plea For Changes To Bse Testing
IRELAND - A call has gone out for the BSE testing age limit in the Republic of Ireland to be raised from 30 to 36 months. Given the age profile of BSE cases and the rigorous BSE controls in place in Ireland, the BSE testing age limit should be raised...

Irish Minister presses for increased beef labelling requirements
IRELAND - The Minister for Agriculture and Food, Mr Joe Walsh TD, today commented on EU beef labelling provisions, which were the subject of the Special Committee on Agriculture meeting in Killarney. Source: Politics.ie

Four new Irish BSE cases this week
IRELAND - Four new BSE cases were recorded in Ireland this week, according to figures released today by the Department of Agriculture. The department said the disease was detected in two animals in Tipperary and one each in Wexford and Limerick.      All...