Walsh issues 'stay away from Cheltenham' plea

The Minister for Agriculture has reiterated his call for people from this country not to travel to the Cheltenham horse racing festival.

Joe Walsh made his comments as horse racing authorities in Britain prepared to resume the sport today, despite the number of foot and mouth cases in the country surpassing the 80 mark.

He said he was still very uneasy about the prospect of the disease emerging here and added the vigilant approach at entry points to the country must be maintained.

Meanwhile, the EU has outlawed livestock markets across the 15 member states and is continuing the embargo on British animal and meat product exports.