RUC and army asked to help in foot-and-mouth fight

Northern Ireland’s Department of Agriculture has appealed to the Army and the RUC for help in a desperate bid to prevent the spread of foot-and-mouth disease, it was confirmed today.

Agriculture Minister Brid Rodgers told a Stormont Committee of her fears that the outbreak in Co Louth in the Irish Republic meant that there was an unidentified strain of the disease at large.