Please support the protest against cruel hare coursing in Millstreet Town Park - tomorrow, Friday 31 December 2021, 9am to 11am at Millstreet Town Park, Millstreet, County Cork.
The town park has been closed for a month prior to the coursing meeting, with dozens of hares, cruelly snatched from the wild, being held captive there, to be used as live bait for greyhounds during two days of sheer barbarity.
The locals have had enough of this annual cruelty fest on their doorstep, and their town park being closed down to facilitate animal abuse.
Among those speaking out against the coursing and the closure of the park is Pauline McLynn. On Cork's C103 on 15 December 2021, the Father Ted actor stated: "The town park is closed to facilitate animal cruelty and abuse. It’s for a tiny minority and yet all of the townspeople are effectively shut out of their municipal park. They can’t enjoy it because the whole thing is blocked off. The majority are now being held to ransom practically by these coursers. It’s astonishing and barbaric. It’s like something from the Dark Ages."
"This is unfair to most of the people living in that town," she added. "They should be allowed to enjoy their town park and not to have it associated with this horrible so-called ‘sport’."
During a past coursing meeting in Millstreet Town Park, the Irish Council Against Blood Sports filmed hares desperately trying to escape from the greyhounds unleashed to chase them. See some of our footage at https://youtu.be/AmgSYJQfwfo and https://youtu.be/7-M6T4Rw5gE
Last December, with coursing stopped due to Covid19 restrictions, Millstreet Park remained open for all the local community to enjoy.
Local resident Siobhán Bourke recalled that "everyone had the most wonderful Christmas in the park" and added that "it’s not fair that these few people [coursers] are dictating what happens in our park."
In a report in the Irish Examiner, she was quoted as saying that "the park is the only place many people can go to exercise safely and it has become a lifeline to many throughout the pandemic".
“Our beautiful park that is used daily by everyone will be shut, apart from the children's playground," she commented. "This is a massive blow for our elderly citizens. My own mother hasn't left the town in two years because of Covid. Going to Mass and to the park are her only outlets. What is she expected to do for the next [four] weeks? And there are people with no back yards. The park is their yard, and now that’s gone for Christmas. Kids can’t go and play football there over the holidays."
More and more locals are calling for the coursing to be stopped and the park to remain open to all. Among the comments posted online include:
“Keep the park open, it’s the bleakest, darkest time of the year and the park provides a safe environment for walkers, runners, kids playing ball on the pitches, etc. 100 plus people using it daily during the week and many more at weekends. To exclude all these people for weeks is not acceptable.”
“It's time to call a halt to coursing in Millstreet - the sport is outdated and cruel to one of our true Irish animals.”
“Made such a lovely difference last Christmas with the coursing cancelled. Hate that it takes place in the park. Hated it when I was a young child and now as an adult. How many animals were abused during that time under the guise of ‘sport ‘. Shame on us as a nation and Millstreet as a town to still allow it to take place.”
“A lot of people are upset, disappointed and angry at the closure of the park, nothing is going to change unless we as a community come out and protest at the closure of our park”
Please support the protest at Millstreet Town Park on Friday 31st December 2021 from 9am to 11am.
Sign the petition and post a comment at
https://www.ipetitions.com/petition/millstreet-town-park
Find out more on the Millstreet Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/millstreet.ie/posts/1814591842075390
With a RED C opinion poll confirming that a 77 per cent majority of citizens want hare coursing banned (with just 9% disagreeing with a ban), it is now time for politicians to consign this nasty bloodsport to history. Join us in contacting all TDs and urging them to act to ensure that a ban is urgently introduced. Visit the Oireachtas website for contact details for TDs https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/members/tds/?term=/ie/oireachtas/house/dail/33
Urge Taoiseach Micheál Martin and Tanaiste Leo Varadkar to respect the wishes of the majority and ban hare coursing and all bloodsports.
Taoiseach Micheál Martin
Email: micheal.martin@oireachtas.ie; info@fiannafail.ie
Phone: +353 (0)1–618 4350 or +353 (0)21-432 0088
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/michealmartintd/
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/@MichealMartinTD
Tanaiste Leo Varadkar
Telephone: +353 (0)1-640 3133
Email: leo.varadkar@oireachtas.ie; finegael@finegael.ie
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/@LeoVaradkar
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LeoVaradkar