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UNESCO has been told that, contrary to a statement on its website, the Irish Hare is now extinct on Dublin's North Bull Island.
In an outdated "Dublin Bay Biosphere Reserve, Republic of Ireland" page on UNESCO.org, it is stated that "The North Bull Island and parts of the buffer zone in north Dublin include populations of Irish Mountain Hare (Lepus timidus hibernicus), a uniquely Irish sub-species of a species of national and international importance, but under severe pressure from recreational disturbance and illegal poaching". https://en.unesco.org/biosphere/eu-na/dublin-bay
“We wish to alert you to the sad fact that Irish Hares are now EXTINCT on North Bull Island,” ICABS stated in a message to the body this week. “This is largely due to a failure by authorities to protect the hares from disturbance from people and dogs.”
The Dublin Bay Biosphere Reserve, comprising Dublin Bay, North Bull Island and adjacent land, is one of only two biosphere reserves in Ireland. It was designated in 1981 by UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) which describes it as “internationally important in terms of its conservation value”.
The last of the Irish Hares on Bull Island were wiped out around eight years ago. In 2019, the Irish Times reported that “[then] Minister for Heritage Josepha Madigan has 'no plans' to reintroduce hares to Bull Island, after dogs were blamed for the extinction of the animals from the world-recognised Dublin Bay nature reserve. Despite being in abundance for decades, there have been no reported sightings of hares on the island over the past five years." https://www.irishtimes.com/news/environment/madigan-rules-out-plans-to-reintroduce-hares-to-bull-island-1.3977907
An Irish Times report in 2015 outlined that "Disturbance by dogs is the main reason the hare population on Dublin’s Bull Island is almost extinct. The [then] Minister for Heritage, Heather Humphreys, said estimates put the number of hares on the island in Clontarf as low as six. Another study estimates there were between 10 and 15 hares. She said there were an estimated 15 to 20 in 1995." https://www.irishtimes.com/news/politics/oireachtas/bull-island-s-hare-population-all-but-extinct-due-to-dogs-1.2197411
According to a wildlife documentary broadcast on NEAR FM in 2014, the last surviving hares on Bull Island were forced to retreat to the water's edge on the most isolated parts of the nature reserve to escape from unleashed dogs.
Speaking on this "An Irish Sanctuary" documentary was naturalist Tom Cooney who commented: "When hares are chased by predators, they have nowhere to go, they're out in the open and they're exposed. When there's a lot of activity on the island, they go out on to the edge of the salt marsh - the very edge. You'd see them out where the tide is and they'd usually go to where there are little inlets and runnels full of water when the tide is in where no dogs can get to them. It is a tragedy that these lovely animals have to pick the most isolated little spots on the island to survive. It's not right. They should be free to roam on the nature reserve." Describing "the constant harassment by dogs" as a major problem, he warned that if urgent action is not taken, more species will be lost.
At the time, the Irish Council Against Blood Sports pleaded with the government to permanently assign at least one wildlife ranger and dog warden to Bull Island to help save the hares but this was not done.
We have asked UNESCO to update its webpage “to reflect the depressing reality that the Irish Hare - an icon of Ireland's biodiversity - has been allowed to go extinct on an internationally important UNESCO biosphere just a few miles away from the offices of the government and the Heritage Minister.”
UNESCO is correct to note that the Irish Hare is "under severe pressure from recreational disturbance and illegal poaching".
Despite all the warning signs indicating falls in population numbers, our government is incredibly continuing to claim that the species has a favourable status. It shamefully continues to permit the hunting of hares with packs of dogs and the shooting of hares. Heritage Ministers Darragh O'Brien and Malcolm Noonan have also continued to license the obscene practice of hare coursing which involves netting thousands of hares from the countryside, holding them in captivity for months and forcing them to run for their lives from pairs of greyhounds - all for the amusement of a merciless mob who cheer the dogs on and gamble on which one will force the hares to change direction first.
Please join calls on the Irish Government to stop all persecution of Irish Hares before the fate of the species follows that of the doomed individuals on Bull Island.
ACTION ALERT
HELP THE HARES: Tell Heritage Ministers Darragh O’Brien and Malcolm Noonan to give full protection to the Irish Hare, refuse a 2023-24 coursing licence and stop all hunting and shooting of hares.
Minister Darragh O’Brien (Fianna Fail, Dublin Fingal)
Tel: (01) 618 3802 OR (086) 251 9893
Email: darragh.obrien@oireachtas.ie; minister@housing.gov.ie
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/DarraghOBrienTD
Twitter: http://twitter.com/DarraghOBrienTD
Malcolm Noonan TD (Green Party, Carlow Kilkenny)
Minister of State for Heritage
Tel: (01) 618 3148 OR (01) 618 3156
Email: mos@housing.gov.ie; malcolm.noonan@oireachtas.ie; pippa.hackett@oireachtas.ie
(CC: Green Party Senator Pippa Hackett, Minister of State for Land Use and Biodiversity in the Department of Agriculture)
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/votemalcolmnoonan1/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/noonan_malcolm
Urge Agriculture Minister Charlie McConalogue to remove exemptions for hare coursing and fox hunting from the Animal Health and Welfare Act.
Charlie McConalogue
Minister for Agriculture
Tel: 01 618 3199 or 01 607 2000
Email: minister@agriculture.gov.ie; charlie.mcconalogue@oireachtas.ie
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/CharlieMcConalogue
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/@McConalogue
It is time for politicians to consign coursing and hunting 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 https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/members/tds/?term=/ie/oireachtas/house/dail/33
Contact the leaders of Fianna Fail, Fine Gael, the Green Party, Sinn Fein and the Labour Party to tell them that you want hare coursing and all bloodsports banned.
Micheál Martin TD
Leader, Fianna Fail
Email: micheal.martin@oireachtas.ie; info@fiannafail.ie
Phone: 021-432 0088
Leinster House: 01–618 3000
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/michealmartintd/
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/@MichealMartinTD
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/michealmartintd/
Leo Varadkar TD
Leader, Fine Gael
Telephone: 01-619 4020
Email: leo.varadkar@oireachtas.ie; finegael@finegael.ie
Tweet to: http://www.twitter.com/@LeoVaradkar
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LeoVaradkar
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/leovaradkar/
Eamon Ryan TD
Leader, Green Party
Tel: 01 618 3894
Email: eamon.ryan@oireachtas.ie
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/EamonRyanGP/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/EamonRyan
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/eamondryan/
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
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/maryloumcdonaldsf/
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/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ivanabacik/
Contact Fianna Fail, Fine Gael, Green Party, Sinn Fein and Labour Party TDs and urge them to pledge support for Paul Murphy TD’s upcoming Animal Health & Welfare (Ban on Hare Coursing) Bill 2020 and Jennifer Whitmore TD's "Protection of Hares Bill 2023".
Fianna Fáil TDs
john.mcguinness@oireachtas.ie; niamh.smyth@oireachtas.ie; brendan.smith@oireachtas.ie; aindrias.moynihan@oireachtas.ie; michael.moynihan.td@oireachtas.ie; micheal.martin@oireachtas.ie; michael.mcgrath@oireachtas.ie; Charlie.McConalogue@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
Fine Gael TDs
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; leo.varadkar@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
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
Sinn Fein TDs
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; MaryLou.McDonald@oireachtas.ie; 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
Labour Party TDs
ivana.bacik@oireachtas.ie; sean.sherlock@oireachtas.ie; aodhan.oriordain@oireachtas.ie; duncan.smith@oireachtas.ie; gerald.nash@oireachtas.ie; Alan.Kelly@oireachtas.ie; brendan.howlin@oireachtas.ie
Please sign and share the petitions
Sinn Fein: Support a ban on cruel hare coursing
https://www.change.org/p/sinn-fein-support-a-ban-on-cruel-hare-coursing
Ireland – Ban cruel hare coursing
http://www.change.org/p/ireland-ban-cruel-hare-coursing
Please support our campaign with a donation
https://www.paypal.me/banbloodsports