UFU president William Irvine opening the UFU presidents Antrim roadshow in the Leighinmohr House Hotel Ballymena, Co Antrim. \ Peter Houston
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The president of the Ulster Farmers’ Union, William Irvine has given a withering assessment of a cross-border TB research project in the northwest which is designed to investigate a range of measures to reduce disease incidence in cattle.
Taking place across part of north-east Donegal and into some of the area covered by Derry and Strabane District Council, the project has secured €6.4m of funding from the Irish Government.
Over 80% of farms in the area have already granted permission for DAERA to proceed with delivery of the project on their farms.
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However, the UFU president is fearful the project will be used as another reason to delay the implementation of a meaningful cull of badgers in TB hotspot areas across NI.
“Our fear is that it turns into another five, six or seven-year process. Wildlife intervention has already been pushed far down the road. It is not happening in this Stormont mandate. Where it goes after that, I just don’t know,” Irvine told reporters on Monday.
The new project in the northwest does include wildlife intervention, although it is being done using the same Test, Vaccinate or Remove (TVR) approach trialled in a 100km2 area of Co Down between 2014 and 2018.
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The president of the Ulster Farmers’ Union, William Irvine has given a withering assessment of a cross-border TB research project in the northwest which is designed to investigate a range of measures to reduce disease incidence in cattle.
Taking place across part of north-east Donegal and into some of the area covered by Derry and Strabane District Council, the project has secured €6.4m of funding from the Irish Government.
Over 80% of farms in the area have already granted permission for DAERA to proceed with delivery of the project on their farms.
However, the UFU president is fearful the project will be used as another reason to delay the implementation of a meaningful cull of badgers in TB hotspot areas across NI.
“Our fear is that it turns into another five, six or seven-year process. Wildlife intervention has already been pushed far down the road. It is not happening in this Stormont mandate. Where it goes after that, I just don’t know,” Irvine told reporters on Monday.
The new project in the northwest does include wildlife intervention, although it is being done using the same Test, Vaccinate or Remove (TVR) approach trialled in a 100km2 area of Co Down between 2014 and 2018.
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