Members of Cork County Council have today (Monday, January 9) strongly rejected a Green Party motion seeking to ban hare coursing.
Councillors Alan O’Connor and Liam Quaide wanted the council write to the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Charlie McConalogue to request that a nationwide ban be introduced on hare coursing.
The motion, raised during the local authority’s monthly meeting, was the subject of “a robust debate” in the council chamber and was eventually put to a vote.
The ballot saw 36 councillors vote against the proposal, four in favour and three abstain.
Coursing
Councillor Alan O’Connor told Agriland that he was surprised by the extent to which the motion was rejected by his fellow councillors.
“I knew that there would have been councillors who were opposed to our motion, of course. People have spoken positively about coursing in the chamber previously.
“But the fact that it was 36 to 4 did surprise me that there was such opposition to the proposal that we would ask the minister for a ban,” he said.
A RED C poll, commissioned by the Irish Council Against Blood Sports in 2019, found that 77% of respondents believed that the Irish government should ban hare coursing.
Councillor O’Connor believed that today’s motion represented that public opinion.
“The reason why we are asking for the ban is on an animal welfare basis. We, as human beings, have the power to capture and then subject animals to whatever treatment we like.
“I just don’t think it’s right to take an animal like a hare and terrorise it essentially and that’s what happens to hares and to do it for sport or for entertainment or enjoyment.
“I don’t think it is right. So that’s why I brought it forward essentially, it’s an animal welfare issue.
“It’s not just a psychological thing. Hares can be injured quite seriously, and occasionally killed,” he said.
Debate
O’Connor described the debate on the motion as “polarising” with several councillors speaking out strongly against the proposal.
This included Mayor of Cork County Council Danny Collins who said that people who are involved in coursing look after both the dogs and hares.
The independent councillor told Agriland that the motion was “another attack on rural Ireland” by the Green Party.
The mayor said that 99% of hares involved in coursing were released back into the wild following the 2021/2022 season.
Of the 89 coursing clubs in Ireland, there are around 15 in Co. Cork.
Fine Gael councillor Eileen Lynch, who has been involved in coursing for all of her life, said that the family activity was part of her tradition, culture and heritage.
Although she acknowledged that coursing “is not to everyone’s taste”, the councillor said that coursing clubs do a lot to promote the conservation of the Irish hare, which is a protected species.
This includes ensuring diversification in breeding when the animals are released back into the wild.
The councillor said that the real threat to the hare is illegal hunting adding that sanctions in this area need to be strengthened.