Minister Heydon and Minister Muir announce new bovine tuberculosis cooperation project
- Published on: 10 October 2025
- Last updated on: 10 October 2025
Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Martin Heydon TD, and Minister for Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs in Northern Ireland, Andrew Muir MLA, have today announced a new project by their Departments and as part of the Shared Island Initiative to tackle the growing impact of bovine tuberculosis on farms in a pilot area.
Speaking on the announcement, Minister Heydon said:
“In my Department’s recently published TB Action Plan, we noted the need for continued collaboration between the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine and the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs to tackle a disease that affects cattle farming across this island. I welcome this innovative new project and look forward to working with Minister Muir to agree the detail of this project in the weeks ahead.”
In welcoming the initiative, Minister Muir added:
“Some of the most difficult conversations I have had since coming into post last year have been with those farmers whose herds are down with bovine TB. The economic impact along with the emotional and mental health stress TB breakdowns place on farm families highlight the importance of working together as we maximise our efforts to tackle this costly disease.”
Both Departments will now engage in developing the overall approach for the cooperation project which is to focus on implementation of measures on a coordinated regional basis, to support reduction of bovine TB incidence and transmission. The project will be consistent with and contribute to the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine and the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs overall policies and approach on working with farmers to tackle bovine TB.
A further announcement on the detail of the project will take place once this work is completed.
ENDS
Notes for Editor
- In April, the TB Partnership Group’s Bovine TB in Northern Ireland: Blueprint for Eradication noted an action to develop and pilot a regionalised approach for the implementation of novel measures, including new partnership working, using the results as a ‘proof of concept’ for deploying any such measures on a countrywide basis. Rolling out measures on a regional basis will enable utilisation of resources more efficiently to assess the impact of the interventions on subpopulations within that region.
- The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine’s recently published TB Action Plan includes an action to continue to collaborate with the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs on the bovine tuberculosis programme in both jurisdictions.
- The Government of Ireland’s Shared Island initiative is working to deepen cooperation to address common challenges and take up opportunities across the island of Ireland, working with the Northern Ireland Executive and the British Government.