Emerald Isle sees red over invasion threat from Britain

Foot-and-mouth disease has created panic in Ireland. Herald journalist TONY WALL reports.

DUBLIN - You know something strange is going on in the Emerald Isles when they cancel St Patrick's Day festivities ...

I was watching Shortland Street on RTE the other day (yes, some parts of Kiwiana are universal), when a disturbing message came on screen.

The words FOOT and MOUTH DISEASE appeared in big, black type and were gradually stamped out as an announcer speaking in War of the Worlds tones and backed by menacing music warned people not to travel to the UK or Northern Ireland.

Seems the Brits have a spot of The Plague - and they don't want it getting across this side of the Irish Sea.

It occurred to me the next day as I flew from Dublin to London that I might be crucified by herds of angry farmers the minute I stepped off the plane, but the scariest thing I saw at Heathrow was a bored-looking bloke with a machinegun who was more interested in IRA terrorists than potentially disease-carrying Kiwis.

Because foot-and-mouth disease - or The Plague as the Irish have called it - is well-established now in the UK, there seems to be an "oh well" attitude from Brits who are so used to farming crises that the idea of diseased meat just doesn't have the same horror value.

Hence the England-Scotland rugby match went ahead with barely a murmur.

In Ireland it's a different story, and more than a few people here are exhibiting symptoms of that other great emptier of supermarket shelves - Mad Cow Disease - as they go into lock-down mode in a desperate attempt to keep the dreaded virus out.

Sporting fixtures are being cancelled with unprecendented regularity. The Six Nations games against Wales, England and Scotland have all been postponed. Everywhere you go there are disinfectant-soaked mats and signs asking people to wipe their feet. I went into one of Dublin's trendiest new bars the other day and was politely asked to wipe my feet before coming in.

Even Dublin Zoo has closed for the first time in 34 years, and, shock horror, the St Patrick's Day parade has been cancelled.

At one stage last week, it seemed maybe all the preventive measures were in vain.

The Plague is Here, blared the headline in the Irish Independent, followed by the kind of intro of which news journos can only dream: "The nightmare the country had been dreading became grim reality last night when it was confirmed that the foot-and-mouth plague has crossed the Irish Sea."

The end of the world was nigh, until it was revealed that the single case to cross the sea was isolated to the North, and the Republic was, thank dear God, clean.

It seems that the extreme measures being undertaken to stop the disease getting here are not all to do with sympathy for the poor farmer.

Agriculture makes up only a small percentage of the Gross Domestic Product in this booming economy.

But there is a disconcerting feeling here that these goldrush days will not last and it is only a matter of time before something comes along to burst the bubble. Maybe foot-and-mouth is it.

There is one phenomenon on these shores than remains unaffected. While most major events have been postponed or cancelled, chart-toppers Westlife have refused to call off sell-out Dublin concerts. It seems some things truly are sacred.

Feature: Foot-and-Mouth Disease epidemic