The National Association of Regional Game Councils (NARGC), which represents hunters, has said that the general election is an opportunity for a “rural reset”, and has called on all parties and candidates to “commit to better engagement with rural interests in the next Dáil”.
The NARGC, which has over 25,000 members nationwide, said that rural interests have been left out of consultations on important matters relating to wildlife and firearms policy.
John Butler, the association’s chairperson, criticised a ban on the hunting of four duck species, which he claimed was “an assault on the right of game hunters and rural interests”.
He also said that a stakeholders forum that was due to be established in 2022 has still not been set up, claiming that “rural interests were denied a voice” at a time that the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) was engaging with environmental non-government organisations (NGOs).
The NARGC has called for all parties in the general election to ensure that this stakeholder forum is established “speedily and on a permanent footing” without further delay.
Butler also criticised the lack of meetings of the Firearms Consultative Panel, which was established in 2015 to address issues in relation to firearms licensing.
“There hasn’t been a single meeting of the Firearms Consultative Panel during the lifetime of this government. It means that farmers and game hunters have been kept at arm’s length on issues affecting the licencing of shotguns,” he commented.
He called for the panel to be reestablished with regular meetings.
Butler added: “Across the board we have endured delays, token gestures, and lip service, but no genuine action.
“Numerous meetings by prominent ministers has been promised, organised and then cancelled. This is not acceptable.
“The next government can, and must, do better when it comes to engaging with rural interests, including game hunters,” the NARGC chairperson said.
The NARGC is calling on all political parties to protect the value, contribution and traditional rights of game hunters in Ireland, including during the planned updating of wildlife legislation.
The group is also calling for decisions made on future wildlife regulation to be fully transparent, impartial and evidence-based.