It sounds like a scene from a film. A boat anchored off the Irish coast, calling on the Government to meet its demands. However, it’s not the Spanish Armada – it’s a boat to take cattle to Algeria.

The boat was scheduled to take 1,200 cattle away from these shores next Friday.

The Department of Agriculture had imposed a deadline of last Sunday for the cattle concerned to have received a wormer. This is to ensure that the withdrawal period has been completed before the cattle reach Algeria, where they are earmarked for slaughter soon afterwards.

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Dr Ahmed Salman’s day job is in a heavily regulated industry, as he runs cosmetic surgery clinics

The exporter, Dr Ahmed Salman, was unable to fulfil this requirement, and is looking for an alternative arrangement. So far, one has not been found.

Dr Ahmed Salman’s day job is in a heavily regulated industry, as he runs cosmetic surgery clinics in Dublin, Kilkenny and Limerick, so we can assume he understands the sometimes bureaucratic nature of working with regulatory bodies in Ireland.

The Emerald Isle producer group is working with Dr Ahmed. Both and the IFA are putting pressure on the Department to find a workable solution.

That said, we expect the Department to rigorously protect the good name of Irish beef.

The Department must also be mindful that there are protest groups closely watching every, any, and all livestock exports

The extent to which it is willing to go in that regard can best be seen from the pork dioxin recall. That was a regulatory breach, with no threat to human health, but €350m was spent to ensure that reputational damage was minimised. And that was for pork.

The Department must also be mindful that there are protest groups closely watching every, any, and all livestock exports and any lapse in standards or protocols will be highlighted internationally.

That effectively means there is negligible wriggle room around the regulations, which are rigorously applied to the established exporters like Purcells, Horgans, and Mallons.

Everyone is acutely aware that the beef market needs all the help it can get, and live exports can help to put a floor on prices.

Third-country markets in north Africa are a welcome addition to the trade

Despite delays in payment from the first load delivered by Dr Ahmed, farmers were happy to supply animals for this second shipment. Third-country markets in north Africa are a welcome addition to the trade, so the hope will be, whatever the short-term outcome, that lessons will be learned, and this will be looked back on as little more than teething problems.