“Fox hunting is indefensible. It's time to rule out a barbaric practice that has no place in a civilised society” - Listen to Ruth Coppinger TD (Solidarity) speaking on Morning Ireland, RTE Radio 1 (10 December 2025) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_dsqO9XvOPA

TAKE ACTION

Help get fox hunting banned in Ireland

Contact all your local TDs and urge them to support Ruth Coppinger TD’s Animal Health & Welfare (Ban On Fox Hunting) Bill when it returns to Dail Eireann on 17 December. Visit the Oireachtas website for email addresses and phone numbers for TDs https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/members/tds/?term=/ie/oireachtas/house/dail/34

Contact the leaders of Fianna Fail, Fine Gael and Sinn Fein. Tell them to vote in favour of Deputy Coppinger’s bill – or at the very least, allow a free vote.

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, admin@sinnfein.ie
Twitter: https://twitter.com/MaryLouMcDonald
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/MaryLouMcDonaldTD

SAMPLE LETTER

Dear Party Leader,

I urge you and your party to vote in favour of Ruth Coppinger TD’s Animal Health & Welfare (Ban On Fox Hunting) Bill – or at least allow a free vote.

Deputy Coppinger’s bill is due to return to Dail Eireann for second stage on 17th December.

It would be very appropriate for your party to support this important bill, given the fact that the vast majority in Ireland are in favour of a ban on fox hunting. The latest Ireland Thinks opinion poll (conducted in November 2025) shows that 87% are opposed to the hunting of animals for sport. 81% of respondents to the poll who expressed an opinion, agree that fox hunting as a sport should be banned in Ireland.

TDs should be allowed to reflect the wishes of most of their constituents by voting in favour of the bill.

As you know, fox hunting involves horrendous cruelty to animals and should have no place in modern Ireland.

Foxes are chased to exhaustion by packs of dogs and when caught, they are attacked, knocked off their feet, bitten, disembowelled and pulled apart. Foxes who try to escape underground suffer further cruelty. The hunt’s terriermen send terriers down the hole to corner and attack the fox. They dig the clay away from above and the squealing and injured fox is then pulled out and brutally killed.

During the recent presidential election, fox hunting was a central issue, with Heather Humphreys’ defence of the bloodsport proving extremely unpopular. Her claim that this obscene cruelty is a part of Irish culture was vehemently rejected, with countless comments posted online pointing out that fox hunting is certainly not part of our culture but was actually imported from Britain (where it has been banned for over two decades).

Fox hunters try to justify their bloodsport by falsely portraying foxes as a threat to farming interests.

On introduction, Deputy Coppinger’s bill predictably prompted the usual few politicians to regurgitate falsities about foxes. They maliciously misportrayed these fascinating and intelligent creatures who are very much part of our natural heritage and play an important role in the ecosystem. Claiming foxes are a threat, they ignore research by Teagasc which confirms that the vast majority of lamb deaths are caused by infection, dystocia, hypothermia and starvation.

Teagasc stresses that farmers may “perceive predators (fox, mink, dog, etc) to be the main cause of lamb mortality” even though “it is unlikely that predators are the main cause”.

In any case, no farmer should seek to solve any perceived problem by inviting dozens of hunters on horseback to hurtle heavily across wet winter fields, leaving pockmarked trails of destruction in their wake and posing a biosecurity risk as they traverse numerous boundaries.

The wild and wondrous sionnach/madra rua (red dog) deserves to be cherished and afforded the same protection given to domestic dogs. It is unacceptable that they are the victims of recreational animal cruelty – chased for miles and attacked, disembowelled and pulled apart when caught.

Animal welfare groups all across Ireland are united in their calls for a ban on fox hunting.

Please side with the compassionate majority of the electorate and support Deputy Coppinger’s bill. In doing so, you will be helping to stop the suffering and finally kill off this obscene bloodsport.

Thank you. I look forward to your response.

Yours faithfully,

[Name/Address]

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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 at http://www.banbloodsports.com/farmers.htm

Sign and share the Uplift petition
https://my.uplift.ie/petitions/petition-to-ban-fox-hunting-in-ireland

Watch and share our campaign videos
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3_5_ixsrg48
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HBxQdL6VQiQ