Vets staged a lightning coup at a meeting of the Veterinary Council, I see. It was part of their ongoing guerrilla war to stave off unwelcome competition from giant, multinational vet chains.

Voting seats on the Council are deliberately finely balanced. Vets have nine, non-vets have nine and there’s one seat for a veterinary nurse. But at the January meeting vets were in a clear majority and went straight for the jugular. They pushed through a motion calling for a review of the Veterinary Act by Minister for Agriculture Michael Creed.

This rebellion didn’t go down well in the Department of Agriculture, and the chiefs of the Veterinary Council were summoned to Department offices in Backweston last week to explain themselves.

Those called in included the president Peadar O Scannail, deputy president Joe Moffitt, as well as the Council registrar and legal officer.

Ironically, Minister Creed had only himself to blame for the vets having a majority at the January meeting.

Fifteen council members finished their terms in December. Nine new vet representatives were voted on in time for the January meeting, but only three lay members were appointed in time.

Two of these novice lay members were present on the night but, according to one observer, were “like rabbits caught in the headlights” as the military attack unfolded.

The registrar of the Council was asked to leave the room ahead of the vote and did so under protest.

The motion was passed by six votes to two.

Creed has now been stung into action and last week appointed four new lay members: former IFA animal health chair Bert Stewart, as well as Claire Millrine, Áilís ní Riain and John O’Brien.

The vets’ ultimate aim is to overturn the revised Code of Practice for the profession – launched in December – which made clear that practices can be bought by foreign companies.