Irish Pork 'Toxin Scare' Men Released

The people held in Northern Ireland in connection with the 2008 Irish pork contamination scare have been released - but pending reports to the NI Public Prosecution Service.

The men, aged 25, 27, 29 and 43 were taken in for questioning on Wednesday following a cross-border investigation involving the PSNI and Gardai.

They were all arrested at separate locations, three in the Dungannon and Coalisland areas of east Tyrone and one in Blackwatertown, Co Armagh.

Around Christmas 2008, shelves across Europe had to be cleared of pork produced in the Irish Republic after traces of dioxins were found in oil used in the making of feed to pigs and cattle as the oil was allegedly supplied to producers in the Irish Republic, who lost an estimated £100m.

Yesterday, the DUP Agriculture Spokesman, Stephen Moutray both welcomed progress made in the investigation of the 2008 Dioxins scare and said that anyone involved in the contamination must "face the full rigour of the law" given the damage caused to our agricultural industry.

Speaking on Wednesday, the Upper Bann MLA said: "The contamination scare in the pork industry cost producers millions of pounds and we can only be thankful that further damage was not caused to our agri-food sector.

"Not only were there massive losses to the agricultural industry but huge costs to the public purse in dealing with the problems caused."

He also alleged 'neglect' across the Irish border: "Thankfully lessons have been learnt locally after this scare, and in particular we discovered the kind of protectionist attitude displayed by the authorities in the Republic of Ireland," the MLA suggested.

"This meant that the Agriculture Minister in Northern Ireland first heard about the problems in a media report," he alleged, noting that security in food supply is absolutely vital to maintain public confidence.

"For that reason it is vitally important that anyone who was involved in this illegal movement of oil which contaminated the feed must face the full rigours of the law.

(BMcC/GK)