Another indication that more and more people are rejecting cruel fox hunting. A report in the Irish Field this month has revealed that “many hunts around the country appear to be suffering from diminished fields".
The statement about decreased participation in hunting was made in a 9 December 2022 report relating to a recent Golden Vale Foxhounds hunt in County Tipperary. It stated: “while many hunts around the country appear to be suffering from diminished fields, such was not the case in Rahealty with well over 40 riders out...”
It laughably referred to those participating in the hunt as “sportsmen” but there is absolutely nothing sporting about foxhunting. Hunters on foot or horseback follow a pack of dozens of trained hounds who are released to chase a fox across the countryside until the animal becomes exhausted and can no longer stay ahead.
At this point, the hounds close in and the fox is knocked to the ground, bitten, disembowelled and pulled asunder. Foxes who attempt to escape underground are cornered and attacked by hunt terriers while members of the hunt dig down into the earth, pull out the terrified and injured foxes and brutally kill them.
The revelation that there are “diminished” numbers involved in foxhunting follows the news that a hunt which terrorised and killed foxes for over a century had finally shut down. The Kilmoganny Foxhounds, based in Counties Kilkenny and Tipperary, has reportedly gone out of business due to a “huge increase in insurance costs”.
The Irish Field outlined in October that the hunt has “ceased to exist” after “a huge increase in running costs left the club with no other option but to disband” https://www.theirishfield.ie/news-high-costs-puts-an-end-to-historic-hunt-club-730999
According to the report, the hunt’s chairman “spoke with no little emotion on the loss of the hunt and the gaping hole it will leave in the rural life of South Kilkenny”.
The hunt, which was affiliated to the Irish Masters of Foxhounds Association, included a pack of 60 hounds which were kept in kennels at Castletown Cox Estate in Carrick-on-Suir, County Tipperary. It targeted unfortunate foxes twice a week on Wednesdays and Sundays in “South Kilkenny and south of the River Anner”.
Also closed down is the Antrim-based “Killultagh Old Rock and Chichester” hunt. First registered over 400 years ago, it was said to be Ireland’s oldest hunt. Its final outing was in October, with hunt chairman describing it “a sad day for all the genuine hunting folk.”
Commenting on the closure, Alliance Party MLA John Blair, who aims to secure a ban on hunting in Northern Ireland, said “I would suggest strongly that the diminishing interest is a fact totally in keeping with clearly expressed public opinion.”
Last year, the chairman of the Irish Masters of Foxhounds Association was quoted as saying that foxhunting faces “a very uncertain and challenging future” in Ireland.
The quote was included in an Irish Field report which pointed to “the significant financial impact of the Covid lockdown on hunt clubs” and “the Green Party, opposed to field sports, in government” as threats to hunting.
The vast majority of Irish citizens want barbaric foxhunting ended in Ireland. A RED C opinion poll shows that a majority in both rural and urban areas want it stopped. The poll, commissioned by the Irish Council Against Blood Sports, found that 77% agree that the government should BAN FOX HUNTING, with a mere 12% disagreeing with a ban.
Fox hunting is one of Ireland’s worst forms of cruelty to animals. It should have no place in modern Ireland. A ban is long overdue.
ACTION ALERT
If you are a landowner, make your property off-limits to hunts. Find out more at
http://www.banbloodsports.com/farmers.htm
Contact the leaders of Fianna Fail, Fine Gael, the Green Party, Sinn Fein and Labour to demand a ban on cruel fox hunting and all bloodsports.
Micheál Martin
Leader, Fianna Fail
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
Leo Varadkar
Leader, Fine Gael
Telephone: +353 (0)1-704 3630 OR +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
Eamon Ryan
Leader, Green Party
Tel: 01 618 3894
Email: eamon.ryan@oireachtas.ie
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/EamonRyanGP/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/EamonRyan
Mary Lou McDonald TD
Leader, Sinn Fein
Tel: (01) 727 7102
Email: marylou.mcdonald@oireachtas.ie
Twitter: https://twitter.com/MaryLouMcDonald
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/MaryLouMcDonaldTD
Ivana Bacik TD
Leader, The Labour Party
Tel: (01) 6183136
Email: ivana.bacik@oireachtas.ie
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ivanabacik
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bacikivana/
Contact Fianna Fail, Fine Gael, Green Party, Sinn Fein and Labour Party TDs.
Email Fianna Fail TDs
micheal.martin@oireachtas.ie; john.mcguinness@oireachtas.ie; niamh.smyth@oireachtas.ie; brendan.smith@oireachtas.ie; aindrias.moynihan@oireachtas.ie; michael.moynihan.td@oireachtas.ie; Charlie.McConalogue@oireachtas.ie; michael.mcgrath@oireachtas.ie; sean.haughey@oireachtas.ie; jim.ocallaghan@oireachtas.ie; darragh.obrien@oireachtas.ie; jack@jackchambers.ie; anne.rabbitte@oireachtas.ie; eamon.ocuiv@oireachtas.ie; james.lawless@oireachtas.ie; sean.ofearghail@oireachtas.ie; sean.fleming@oireachtas.ie; barry.cowen@oireachtas.ie; willie.odea@oireachtas.ie; niall.collins@oireachtas.ie; Robert.Troy@oireachtas.ie; dara.calleary@oireachtas.ie; thomas.byrne@oireachtas.ie; marc.macsharry@oireachtas.ie; jackie.cahill@oireachtas.ie; mary.butler@oireachtas.ie; james.browne@oireachtas.ie; jennifer.murnaneoconnor@oireachtas.ie; cathal.crowe@oireachtas.ie; james.oconnor@oireachtas.ie; padraig.osullivan@oireachtas.ie; christopher.osullivan@oireachtas.ie; paul.mcauliffe@oireachtas.ie; john.lahart@oireachtas.ie; cormac@cormacdevlin.ie; normafoley1@eircom.net; joe.flaherty@oireachtas.ie; Stephen.Donnelly@oireachtas.ie
Email Fine Gael TDs
leo.varadkar@oireachtas.ie; JohnPaul.Phelan@oireachtas.ie; Heather.Humphreys@oireachtas.ie; joe.carey@oireachtas.ie; david.stanton@oir.ie; colm.burke@oireachtas.ie; michael.creed@oireachtas.ie; Simon.Coveney@oireachtas.ie; joe.mchugh@oireachtas.ie; richard.bruton@oireachtas.ie; Paschal.Donohoe@oireachtas.ie; Alan.Farrell@oireachtas.ie; emer.higgins@oireachtas.ie; neale.richmond@oireachtas.ie; josepha.madigan@oireachtas.ie; colm.brophy@oireachtas.ie; jennifer.carrollmacneill@oireachtas.ie; Ciaran.Cannon@oireachtas.ie; hildegarde.naughton@oireachtas.ie; Brendan.Griffin@oireachtas.ie; bernard.durkan@oireachtas.ie; Martin.Heydon@oireachtas.ie; charles.flanagan@oireachtas.ie; kieran.odonnell@oireachtas.ie; Patrick.O’Donovan@oireachtas.ie; peter.burke@oireachtas.ie; fergus.odowd@oireachtas.ie; alan.dillon@oireachtas.ie; michael.ring@oireachtas.ie; helen.mcentee@oireachtas.ie; damien.english@oireachtas.ie; frank.feighan@oireachtas.ie; paul.kehoe@oireachtas.ie; Simon.Harris@oireachtas.ie
Email Green Party TDs
Eamon.Ryan@greenparty.ie; catherine.martin@oireachtas.ie; patrick.costello@oireachtas.ie; francisnoel.duffy@oireachtas.ie; neasa.hourigan@oireachtas.ie; brian.leddin@oireachtas.ie; steven.matthews@oireachtas.ie; malcolm.noonan@oireachtas.ie; joe.obrien@oireachtas.ie; marc.ocathasaigh@oireachtas.ie; roderic.ogorman@oireachtas.ie; ossian.smyth@oireachtas.ie
Email Sinn Fein TDs
MaryLou.McDonald@oireachtas.ie; john.brady@oireachtas.ie; pat.buckley@oireachtas.ie; Sean.Crowe@oireachtas.ie; david.cullinane@oireachtas.ie; Pearse.Doherty@oireachtas.ie; dessie.ellis@oir.ie; kathleen.funchion@oireachtas.ie; martinkennysf@gmail.com; denise.mitchell@oireachtas.ie; imelda.munster@oireachtas.ie; eoin.obroin@oireachtas.ie; donnchadh.olaoghaire@oireachtas.ie; aengus.osnodaigh@oireachtas.ie; louiseoreillysf@gmail.com; maurice.quinlivan@oireachtas.ie; Brian.Stanley@oireachtas.ie; mark.ward@oireachtas.ie; chris.andrews@oireachtas.ie; martin.browne@oireachtas.ie; matt.carthy@oireachtas.ie; sorca.clarke@oireachtas.ie; roseconwaywalsh@eircom.net; reada.cronin@oireachtas.ie; pa.daly@oireachtas.ie; paul.donnelly@oireachtas.ie; mairead.farrell@oireachtas.ie; thomas.gould@oireachtas.ie; johnny.guirke@oireachtas.ie; claire.kerrane@oireachtas.ie; padraig.maclochlainn@oir.ie; johnny.mythen@oireachtas.ie; ruairi.omurchu@oireachtas.ie; darren.orourke@oireachtas.ie; patriciaryan975@gmail.com; pauline.tully@oireachtas.ie
Email Labour Party TDs
ivana.bacik@oireachtas.ie; brendan.howlin@oireachtas.ie; sean.sherlock@oireachtas.ie; aodhan.oriordain@oireachtas.ie; duncan.smith@oireachtas.ie; gerald.nash@oireachtas.ie; Alan.Kelly@oireachtas.ie
Please support our campaign with a donation
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SEE ALSO
104-year-old foxhunt has “ceased to exist”
https://banbloodsports.wordpress.com/2022/11/04/breaking-news-104-year-old-foxhunt-has-ceased-to-exist/
Fox hunting faces “very uncertain and challenging future” in Ireland
https://banbloodsports.wordpress.com/2021/01/04/fox-hunting-faces-very-uncertain-and-challenging-future-in-ireland/
Insurance costs posing major threat to future of foxhunting
https://banbloodsports.wordpress.com/2021/10/22/insurance-costs-posing-major-threat-to-future-of-foxhunting/