Writer and broadcaster Barbara Scully has joined calls for a ban on cruel fox hunting in Ireland.

In a “Ban Fox Hunting” post on Instagram this week, Barbara noted that “most irish people (over 70%) are horrified that fox hunting is still legal here”.

She urged Fianna Fail and Fine Gael to “put an end to this barbarity”.

Check out her post, which includes video footage of adorable fox cubs playing in her garden

https://www.instagram.com/p/DYScvBOsDk3/

Previously, Barbara expressed support for a ban on greyhound racing and hare coursing. 

In 2023, she encouraged people to say NO to horse racing: “Horse racing is not the glamorous ‘sport’ that it is marketed as. Horse racing is cruel. In Ireland, over 100 horses every year die running on Irish racecourses. That alone is shocking but also the fact that it is not talked about. When you hear the reports from a racing festival or a race meet, and you hear about the winners and all the rest of it, you never hear how many horses die. But horses die regularly on race tracks in Ireland. It is not a glamorous sport. Horse racing is cruel. Animals are not entertainment. I would definitely ask you to think again before you get all dressed up and head off to the races” https://www.instagram.com/p/C1UpYkMqFod/

Please join Barbara Scully in telling Fianna Fail and Fine Gael to ban fox hunting.

Email Fianna Fail TDs

john.mcguinness@oireachtas.ie;peterchap.cleere@oireachtas.ie;jennifer.murnaneoconnor@oireachtas.ie;brendan.smith@oireachtas.ie;niamh.smyth@oireachtas.ie;cathal.crowe@oireachtas.ie;timmy.dooley@oireachtas.ie;james.oconnor@oireachtas.ie;padraig.osullivan@oireachtas.ie;michael.moynihan@oireachtas.ie;aindrias.moynihan@oireachtas.ie;seamus.mcgrath@oireachtas.ie;micheal.martin@oireachtas.ie;christopher.osullivan@oireachtas.ie;patthecope.gallagher@oireachtas.ie;Charlie.McConalogue@oireachtas.ie;tom.brabazon@oireachtas.ie;jim.ocallaghan@oireachtas.ie;darragh.obrien@oireachtas.ie;shane.moynihan@oireachtas.ie;paul.mcauliffe@oireachtas.ie;shay.brennan@oireachtas.ie;catherine.ardagh@oireachtas.ie;john.lahart@oireachtas.ie;jack.chambers@oireachtas.ie;Minister@per.gov.ie;cormac@cormacdevlin.ie;albert.dolan@oireachtas.ie;john.connolly@oireachtas.ie;michael.cahill@oireachtas.ie;norma.foley@oireachtas.ie;minister@dcde.gov.ie;naoise.ocearuil@oireachtas.ie;james.lawless@oireachtas.ie;sean.ofearghail@oireachtas.ie;sean.fleming@oireachtas.ie;willie.odea@oireachtas.ie;niall.collins@oireachtas.ie;Robert.Troy@oireachtas.ie;erin.mcgreehan@oireachtas.ie;dara.calleary@oireachtas.ie; ministerdrcd@drcd.gov.ie; thomas.byrne@oireachtas.ie;aisling.dempsey@oireachtas.ie;tony.mccormack@oireachtas.ie;martin.daly@oireachtas.ie;eamon.scanlon@oireachtas.ie;ryan.omeara@oireachtas.ie;mary.butler@oireachtas.ie;james.browne@oireachtas.ie; minister@housing.gov.ie;malcolm.byrne@oireachtas.ie

Email Fine Gael TDs

catherine.callaghan@oireachtas.ie;david.maxwell@oireachtas.ie;joe.cooney@oireachtas.ie;colm.burke@oireachtas.ie;johnpaul.oshea@oireachtas.ie;jerry.buttimer@oireachtas.ie;naoise.omuiri@oireachtas.ie;james.geoghegan@oireachtas.ie;Paschal.Donohoe@oireachtas.ie;grace.boland@oireachtas.ie;emer.higgins@oireachtas.ie;maeve.oconnell@oireachtas.ie;neale.richmond@oireachtas.ie;colm.brophy@oireachtas.ie;emer.currie@oireachtas.ie;barry.ward@oireachtas.ie;jennifer.carrollmacneill@oireachtas.ie;peter.roche@oireachtas.ie;hildegarde.naughton@oireachtas.ie;joe.neville@oireachtas.ie;Martin.Heydon@oireachtas.ie;william.aird@oireachtas.ie;kieran.odonnell@oireachtas.ie;Patrick.O'Donovan@oireachtas.ie;peter.burke@oireachtas.ie;micheal.carrigy@oireachtas.ie;paula.butterly@oireachtas.ie;alan.dillon@oireachtas.ie;keira.keogh@oireachtas.ie;helen.mcentee@oireachtas.ie;john.clendennen@oireachtas.ie;frank.feighan@oireachtas.ie;michael.murphy@oireachtas.ie;john.cummins@oireachtas.ie;Simon.Harris@oireachtas.ie;edward.timmins@oireachtas.ie;brian.brennan@oireachtas.ie;noel.mccarthy@oireachtas.ie

Sample Letter

(If you have time, please compose your own personal letter)

Dear Deputy,

I urge you and your party to support a ban on cruel fox hunting.

The vast majority - in both rural and urban areas - are in favour of a ban. The latest opinion poll - the NSPCA-commissioned Bounce Insights National Survey 2026 - shows that 82% support a ban on fox hunting. Previous RED C and Ireland Thinks polls confirmed overwhelming support for a ban. 

As you know, fox hunting involves horrendous cruelty to animals. 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.

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

In fact, these fascinating and intelligent creatures are very much part of our natural heritage and play an important role in the ecosystem. Claims that foxes are a threat, 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 perceived problems 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 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.

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 back a ban. 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]

Please also get in touch with your local TDs and urge them to pledge support for a ban. 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 and Fine Gael directly. Tell them that you want fox hunting 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/

X: 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

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

Sign and share Uplift’s “Ban Fox Hunting” petition

https://my.uplift.ie/petitions/petition-to-ban-fox-hunting-in-ireland

Watch our campaign video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ku7EIzByGVY

Find out more about Barbara Scully, her book “Wise Up” and her “Because I’m Worth It!” show 

https://barbarascully.com/product/wise-up/

https://barbarascully.com/shows/