Animal lovers around Ireland are being urged to reject Heather Humphreys in the upcoming presidential election.
Despite claiming in the run-up to the election that she is an "animal lover" who "absolutely abhors animal cruelty", Heather Humphreys actually has a very poor record on animal welfare issues.
In an RTE News interview on 25 September 2025, she was asked if she supports fox hunting. Anyone who genuinely abhors animal cruelty would not hesitate to condemn this barbaric bloodsport but instead she chose to defend it as “a rural pursuit”. https://www.youtube.com/shorts/MICoUFFjvKU
Fox hunting involves releasing a pack of dogs to terrorise a defenceless fox. The fox is chased across the countryside and when caught, the unfortunate creature is attacked, bitten, disembowelled and pulled apart while hunters on foot or horseback blow horns and cheer on the disgusting frenzy.
As a TD, Heather Humphreys voted against proposed amendments to the Animal Health and Welfare Bill which sought to stop some of the country's worst forms of animal cruelty, including hare coursing and fox hunting (bloodsports which the majority in Ireland want outlawed). She also opposed a ban on terrierwork and digging out, abhorrent acts known to cause horrendous suffering to foxes who try to escape underground during hunts.
While Minister for Arts and Heritage, Heather Humphreys not only licensed cruel hare coursing but she praised participants, ridiculously maintaining that they "go to great lengths to ensure the highest standards of welfare are adhered to". Coursing involves snatching thousands of hares from the wild, holding them in captivity and using them as live bait for dogs to chase.
In Dail Eireann in June 2016, she recommended the rejection of a bill seeking to ban hare coursing, claiming that the bloodsport is run in a “responsible manner in the interests of both hares and greyhounds". https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ILMM28c0kRM
She also granted snaring licences to the Department of Agriculture, allowing them to continue cruelly capturing and killing badgers as part of its failed TB Eradication scheme.
During her time as a TD, Heather Humphreys voted in favour of channelling more than €420 MILLION of Irish taxpayers' money into horse and greyhound racing - €338 million to Horse Racing Ireland (much of which ended up as prize money for wealthy horse owners & trainers) plus €84 million for Greyhound Racing Ireland. She voted in favour of the Horse and Greyhound Racing Fund Regulations in 2016, 2017, 2019, 2021 and 2022 (€80 million / €80 million / €84 million / €88 million / €91 million). Horse Racing Ireland gives some of the money it receives to fox hunts around the country in the form of point-to-point racing grants - this funding helps sustain hunts and their cruel activities.
In 2015, Heather Humphreys (then Arts and Heritage Minister with responsibility for the Wildlife Act) made her way to Birr Castle in County Offaly to attend a game fair which celebrated the killing of Irish wildlife. Minister Humphreys, who refused to meet groups campaigning against bloodsports, was more than happy to perform the opening ceremony at an event which attracted those who blast wildlife to death, unleash lurchers and terriers to attack and kill foxes, use packs of hounds to terrorise and tear foxes apart and send ferrets underground to catch and injure rabbits. Minister Humphreys was photographed next to hunting representatives at the Birr Game Fair which promoted itself as being of interest to “the most discerning” hunters and shooters. Minister Humphreys was a “VIP Guest” of the National Association of Regional Game Councils (NARGC) whose members are responsible for the shooting of tens of thousands of foxes, deer, birds and other creatures every year.
The Irish Council Against Blood Sports encourages anyone who loves animals and values our wildlife heritage to vote for compassionate Catherine Connolly in the presidential election.
Catherine Connolly is a true animal lover. She pushed for a ban on fur farming, backed an attempt to outlaw hare coursing, has "serious difficulty" with dog-killing greyhound racing, voted against tens of millions of euros of taxpayers' money being ploughed into horse and greyhound racing and, earlier this year, voted in favour of the Animal Health and Welfare (Ban on Fox Hunting) Bill.
In June 2016, she voted in favour of Maureen O’Sullivan TD’s bill which sought to ban hare coursing.
In 2020, she co-signed the Animal Health & Welfare (Ban on Hare Coursing) Bill along with TDs Paul Murphy, Gino Kenny, Mick Barry, Richard Boyd Barrett, Brid Smith and Joan Collins.
In a March 2024 Dail Eireann speech during a debate on the Nature Restoration Law, Catherine Connolly TD stated: “Nature is in dire straits and requires immediate large-scale intervention to avert extensive species extinction" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o1r5fGPVan8&t=9589s
Catherine Connolly TD pushed for a ban on fur farming in Ireland. In a 28 April 2021 Dail Question, she asked the Minister for Agriculture “pursuant to the Programme for Government 2020, the status of legislation to provide for the introduction of a ban on fur farming which will also include a prohibition on mink farming; the timeline for when this legislation will be finalised”. https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/question/2021-04-28/1142/
In May 2025, she voted in support of the Animal Health and Welfare (Ban on Fox Hunting) Bill 2025 which aims to ban cruel fox hunting and the snaring and trapping of foxes.
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The presidential election takes place on Friday 24 October 2025.