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Actor Mary McEvoy has called for a ban on cruel fox hunting after a local hunt trespassed on to her land.
In a series of videos posted on Instagram, the beloved actor – most famous for her role as Biddy in Glenroe – listed out the hunts terrorising animals in her County Westmeath locality and declared: “We don't want you”.
“We've got to ban fox hunting right now,” she added.
She said the hunters trespassed into her forest and also sent pregnant sheep running for their lives on a neighbouring farm, with some of the animals aborting.
The videos were filmed in a vehicle as she tracked the hunt and referred to herself as an unofficial hunt sab.
She also told of how she was verbally abused by a hunt supporter when she told him he should not be following the hunt.
“I've just been called a c*** by a hunt follower in a jeep,” she said in the video which was viewed thousands of times. “That's the type of people we're dealing with.”
In a follow-up video, Mary thanked people for their encouraging responses.
“Thank you so much for your support today,” she said. “I don't think there has been one negative comment. That gives me courage and it gives me hope. A lot of the people that I spoke to in the local town are the same. There is hope. It has given me courage. It's a very scary thing to do.”
In a video posted a few days later, Mary added: “I'm not giving up the fight. I do think things are changing. People are rising up and saying we want a more gentler world. We want to be gentler with ourselves in terms of mental health. We want to be gentler with our surroundings in terms of animals and the environment. It's great. I'm so delighted that everyone contacted me.”
Among the supportive comments were:
“Fair play to you for calling out these hunts - you're on the side of innocent animals who don't have a voice.”
“Thank you for being a voice for these beautiful animals and standing up to these cruel people.”
“Mary you are a fabulous person, standing up for all animals who suffer such acts of cruelty has to be always the right thing to do.”
“We need more beautiful people like you Mary.”
“Your voice is worth its weight in gold. Please keep up the fight. These people need to stopped for once and for all. You're a star.”
“Thank you Mary. It is a scary thing to do but you did it and look at the people who agree with you. You did a great thing today speaking up against hunting. Animals in Ireland need advocates - from abandoned dogs and cats to hunting, puppy farms, etc. We need to have changes in our laws.”
“Well done Mary for speaking up for those who can’t speak for themselves. Also for springing into action and calling out those who engage in the horrible act of fox hunting.”
“Well done Mary. These people think they can do whatever they like and no accountability. You are inspiring, Mary. We all need to voice our condemnation to these people.”
“These bastards who believe it is their God-given right to crash through the countryside causing havoc to wildlife, farm animals and domestic pets alike, are the absolute dregs of the earth.”
“The power of the people will eventually get this barbaric outdated mentality stopped.”
“Well done Mary for standing up to these animal abusers. Anyone who hunts or harms animals must have been born with no empathy. There's definitely something missing in their brain.”
Mary has previously spoken up for Irish animals, declaring that nature is important to her and that she is not in favour of hunting or shooting.
Speaking on RTE's John Murray Radio radio show on 3rd October 2014, she said she would never be seen with a [pro-bloodsports] RISE sticker on the back of her vehicle. "I don't believe in hunting, shooting, all that kind of stuff," she stated.
"I feel we miss the point if we ignore nature," she told listeners. "I believe in living in balance with nature and learning and working with it rather than dominating it. Modern farming methods are about domination rather than working with the soil. I feel the attitude we have to animals that give us food is so disrespectful."
Mary, who was a Department of Agriculture employee before her career in TV, film and stage acting, went on say that: "I hate the idea that we call our farm animals 'units'. They are living creatures and they die so we can live and I think we should take that a heck of a lot more seriously than we do. I'll probably end my days as a vegetarian." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DPIt2-VPE94
In a March 2022 Irish Examiner interview, she was asked “What traits do you least like in others?”, to which she replied “Cruelty. I mean, that’s a no-brainer.”
A big thank you to Mary McEvoy for standing up to the hunters and for joining calls for a long overdue ban on cruel fox hunting. Follow Mary on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/mary_mc_evoy_official/ Buy her book “Ordinary Beauty: Meaningful Moments in Everyday Life” at https://www.kennys.ie/health-personal-development/ordinary-beauty-meaningful-moments-in-everyday-life-mary-mcevoy-9781444785883
ACTION ALERT
Fox hunting should not be happening in modern Ireland. A RED C opinion poll, commissioned by the Irish Council Against Blood Sports, shows that a 77% majority agree that the government should ban fox hunting. The poll found that just 12 per cent disagree with a ban on fox hunting.
Join us in urging the Irish Government to finally ban this barbaric bloodsport.
Tell Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and Tanaiste Micheal Martin to respect the wishes of the majority and ban fox hunting in Ireland.
Taoiseach Leo Varadkar TD
Telephone: +353 (0)1-704 3630 OR +353 (0)1-640 3133
Email: leo.varadkar@oireachtas.ie; finegael@finegael.ie
X: http://www.twitter.com/@LeoVaradkar
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LeoVaradkar
Tanaiste Micheál Martin TD
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/
X: http://www.twitter.com/@MichealMartinTD
Contact the leaders of the Green Party, Sinn Fein and Labour to urge them to back a ban on fox hunting and all bloodsports.
Eamon Ryan
Leader, Green Party
Tel: 01 618 3894
Email: eamon.ryan@oireachtas.ie
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/EamonRyanGP/
X: https://twitter.com/EamonRyan
Mary Lou McDonald TD
Leader, Sinn Fein
Tel: (01) 727 7102
Email: marylou.mcdonald@oireachtas.ie
X: 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
X: https://twitter.com/ivanabacik
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bacikivana/
Contact Fianna Fail, Fine Gael, Green Party, Sinn Fein and Labour Party TDs and tell them to back a ban.
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
If you are a landowner, make your land off-limits to hunters. Find out more about how to do this on our Farmers/Landowners Page – http://www.banbloodsports.com/farmers.htm
Witness the cruelty of foxhunting
http://www.banbloodsports.com/videos.htm
https://youtu.be/cbLKs9pgQno