Bluetongue - NI Minister praised

On Fri, 29 Feb 2008 11:49:48 -0000, "Pat Gardiner"
wrote:

Pat's Note: This lady is not always the most popular in Britain and it is
nice to see her get justified praise in the Belfast Telegraph.

Gildernew and her counterpart in the republic have blown the Defra myth that
they are always controlled from Brussels. In Defra's case they even voted
for this trade to be allowed.

The EU will do nothing but accept what was obviously a sensible decision
taken in an emergency. The reality is that they will probably review the
original bad decision voted for by Britain and protested against by
Gildernew.

She was right, Defra was wrong, as usual.

I see Scotland are reviewing their Bluetongue policy. I was surprised to see
that they too have a substantial live trade to Ireland too and that the
Bluetongue infected beasts were routed from Holland via Scotland.

What's going on? Why is there so much money to be made shipping huge numbers
of live cattle to Ireland?

Judging by the reaction our resident lobbyists know and are anxious not to
tell us.

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/ne...cle3477201.ece

Viewpoint: Job well done, minister

Friday, February 29, 2008

The Agriculture Minister, Michelle Gildernew, has moved swiftly and
decisively to act against the animal disease bluetongue.
Yesterday she signed a declaration approving a week-long suspension of the
importation of breeding animals into the province from areas affected by
bluetongue disease.

Bluetongue does not affect humans but can cause appalling suffering to
animals and serious economic damage to farmers.

The disease has been detected on a Co Antrim farm - however it is not
thought these infections were transmitted by local midge bite. No further
detections have been made and so therefore Northern Ireland retains its
bluetongue-free status.

Further importations plainly endanger that status and Ms Gildernew's
action - which follows a similar move by her counterpart in the Republic -
is a measure of her determination to keep bluetongue out.

The minister's action has a potential downside, however, and that is a
significant risk of direct conflict with the EU. It is therefore gratifying
to see that Ms Gildernew is prepared to suffer an element of political risk
to defend our farmers.

It is also unlikely that a Direct Rule minister would have taken such a
decision, so the minister's move is a welcome example of effective local
democracy in action.