Coughlan faces cattle exports dilemma

By Paul Mooney

Mary Coughlan, the newly appointed Minister for Agriculture, faces an immediate challenge upon starting office today (Thursday) if she is to keep open live cattle exports to the Continent.

Weanling exports are now under threat after shipping group P & O announced that it will end its Rosslare to Cherbourg service.

Cutting loose! Opening the Ploughing Championships at Grangeford, Tullow were Gerry Baker, Mick Mahon, Joe Walsh, who retired as Minister for Agriculture and Food this week; An Taoiseach Bertie Ahern and Anna May McHugh.

It is the only ferry company carrying specialist livestock lorries.

Yesterday (Wednesday) the managing director of P & O Irish Sea said that the boat servicing the route will be moved to the North Sea, most likely early in 2005. In the meantime, sailings will proceed as normal to allow consultations with P&O staff and its customers take place, Terry Cairns said. This will allow cattle exports continue for now.

Cairns said that discussions were ongoing between P&O and a number of interested parties on a possible sale of the route. The company was hopeful of agreeing a sale and would prefer that to straight closure of the route, he said.

Yesterday IFA livestock chairman John Bryan warned that P&O sailings must continue until an alternative service was fully in place. It was essential that Irish livestock farmers had continued ferry access to the EU single market for live animals, he said.

"The live export trade out of Ireland is extremely important in terms of price competition and market outlets. It is the responsibility of the Government and new Minister for Agriculture Mary Coughlan to guarantee ferry access. The trade is highly regulated with veterinary inspections and extremely high standards of animal welfare.''

Bryan claimed that he had talked to a major shipping company that was interested in acquiring the route and that it had expressed willingness to carry livestock lorries.

Meanwhile, the planned loading of up to 1,200 finished cattle at Waterford Port for export to the Lebanon was stopped at the last minute by the Department of the Marine earlier this week

This happened after a final inspection found that minor adjustments to the boat were necessary. The cattle are to be exported by Purcells in the first of what the company hopes will be a number of shipments.

Yesterday afternoon Patrick Purcell said that all required adjustments had been made and that the ship had got full Department of Marine clearance. Cattle will be loaded tomorrow morning (Friday) and the boat should sail some hours later, he told the Journal.

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