Live sheep exports up to almost 70,000

Irish live sheep exports almost doubled in 2013, to approach 70,000 head.

Seventy percent of this trade went to the EU, with Germany, Italy and France the core markets.

But Libya in North Africa emerged as a new market, taking 21,400 live sheep from Ireland in 2013, mostly culled ewes for immediate slaughter, with demand highest around the Muslim festivals such as Ramadan.