Join the “Ban Fox Hunting” protest outside Dail Eireann, Kildare Street, Dublin on Tuesday, 27 May 2025 at 1pm. The demo takes place on the day that Ruth Coppinger TD will introduce her Animal Health & Welfare (Ban On Fox Hunting) Bill in Dail Eireann.
Watch the protest video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yxJO5foMIyg
Deputy Coppinger's bill aims to amend the Animal Health and Welfare Act 2013 (which contains an exemption for hunting), i.e. add a paragraph to Section 12 to “specify that fox hunting and related practices are banned and therefore cannot be considered as lawful hunting”.
The bill focuses on banning not only fox hunting but also trail hunting and the snaring and trapping of foxes:
“A person shall not-
(a) Hunt a fox, or foxes, including with a canine or canines;
(b) Use a canine or canines to flush or dig out a fox, or foxes, from below ground;
(c) Trap or snare a fox, or foxes, in order to kill the fox, or foxes;
(d) Engage in trail hunting.”
It goes on to state: “Fox hunting is a cruel and inhumane blood sport. Fox hunting causes unnecessary suffering and stress to the fox. The practice entails setting a pack of dogs on a fox who then chase and kill the fox. The pack of dogs are generally pursued by hunters on horseback. It is a common practice for any fox that escapes underground to have hunt followers set terrier dogs on them to kill them underground or to flush them out. It is an archaic practice with a deeply elitist culture. Public opinion is opposed to the practice with opinion polls overwhelmingly supportive of a ban on fox hunting.
“Fox hunting has been banned in Britain for over 20 years (Scotland introduced a ban in 2002, and England and Wales in 2004). Experience in Britain has shown that a loophole that permits trail hunting - where the scent of a fox is followed - often leads to the pursuit and killing of a fox.
“The fox is a mammal native to Ireland and is part of Ireland's biodiversity. The killing of foxes through fox hunting is not needed to protect livestock or to protect biodiversity.”
ACTION ALERT
Help get fox hunting banned in Ireland
Please get in touch with all your local TDs and urge them to support Ruth Coppinger TD’s bill. Visit the Oireachtas website for contact details https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/members/tds/?term=/ie/oireachtas/house/dail/34
Contact the leaders of Fianna Fail, Fine Gael, Sinn Fein and the Labour Party. Tell them that you want fox hunting, hare coursing and all bloodsports banned.
Micheál Martin TD
Leader, Fianna Fail
Email: micheal.martin@oireachtas.ie; info@fiannafail.ie
Tel: 01 619 4000
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/michealmartintd/
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/@MichealMartinTD
Simon Harris TD
Leader, Fine Gael
Telephone: 01 281 3727
Email: simon.harris@oireachtas.ie; finegael@finegael.ie
X: http://www.twitter.com/SimonHarrisTD
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/DeputySimonHarris
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/
Keep hunters off your land
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
Sign and share our “Ban Blood Sports in Ireland” petition
https://www.change.org/petitions/ban-blood-sports-in-ireland
Witness the cruelty of fox hunting at
http://www.banbloodsports.com/videos.htm
Please support our campaign with a donation
https://www.paypal.me/banbloodsports