Closure Order for unapproved meat processing facility in Ireland

The Irish Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, has issued a Co. Cavan-based facility with a Closure Order following an investigation into alleged unapproved meat processing activities.

The Closure Order and Prohibition Order were served on Ivan Ebbitt, of Erne Hill, Belturbet, Co. Covan, by the department’s veterinary inspectors because of fears that the facility posed a grave or imminent danger to public health. The decision also implicates all products processed, stored, distributed and placed on the market from the premises.

The Department of Agriculture would not comment on the specific issues resulting in the closure order. However, a statement from the Food Safety Authority of Ireland said the facility was "unhygienic and unsuitable for the purposes of food production".