An Irish Hare was featured in a video backdrop to a song performed for Pope Francis during his recent visit to Ireland. The hare - along with other endangered animals including elephant, tiger and gorilla - appeared on the giant Croke Park screens as singer Rita Connolly sang "The Deer's Cry".

The song includes the lines "I will arise...From all who shall wish me ill / Afar and a-near/Alone and in a multitude / Against every cruel, merciless power / That may oppose my body and soul".

Writing in this week's Irish Post newspaper, John Fitzgerald noted that the song was "an apt choice for the occasion because the lyrics resonated with the Pope’s own frequently expressed concern for nature and the environment - in a 2015 encyclical he lambasted the wilful destruction of tropical forests, man-made climate change, and other forms of ecological vandalism and also alluded to the plight of wildlife species, lamenting the fact that 'we see other living beings as mere objects subjected to arbitrary human domination.'"

Referring to the hare, John Fitzgerald wrote: "Its fortunes vary, but here in Ireland it is under intense pressure from both loss of habitat and the ghoulish activities of coursing clubs. Recently, the Department of Arts, Heritage, and the Gaeltacht issued a licence permitting another coursing season. Netting of hares has already begun. Apart from the stress, injury, and death that will occur on the coursing fields, there has been a noticeable decline in the Irish hare population."

The appearance of the hare during the Croke Park event, came weeks after appeals were made to Pope Francis to speak out against hare coursing and other forms of animal cruelty during his visit.

You can watch Rita Connolly's performance of The Deer's Cry on the RTE Player
https://www.rte.ie/player/ie/show/pope-francis-in-ireland-30006394/10926245/
(forward to 03:03:33)

Read John Fitzgerald's full statement below and scroll down for our latest "Ban Hare Coursing" action alert.

Pope’s Message points to our hare
Irish Post, 8 September 2018

At the World Meeting of Families concert, singer Rita Connolly gave a beautiful rendition of The Deer’s Cry, a time-honoured Prayer of Protection attributed to Saint Patrick.

An apt choice for the occasion because the lyrics resonated with the Pope’s own frequently expressed concern for nature and the environment. In a 2015 encyclical he lambasted the wilful destruction of tropical forests, man-made climate change, and other forms of ecological vandalism. The encyclical also alluded to the plight of wildlife species, lamenting the fact that “we see other living beings as mere objects subjected to arbitrary human domination.”

As Rita Connolly held the vast audience in Croke Park enthralled with her angelic voice, images of species in need of urgent protection appeared fleetingly on the giant video screen behind her. As well as the polar bear and the panda, we saw the hare.

Its fortunes vary, but here in Ireland it is under intense pressure from both loss of habitat and the ghoulish activities of coursing clubs. Recently, the Department of Arts, Heritage, and the Gaeltacht issued a licence permitting another coursing season. Netting of hares has already begun. Apart from the stress, injury, and death that will occur on the coursing fields, there has been a noticeable decline in the Irish hare population.

Last August ecologist Karina Dingerkus stated on RTE’s Mooney Goes Wild that “over the last 50 years, hare numbers have declined significantly”, adding that “they’re in trouble.”

If the government doesn’t act decisively to protect the Irish Hare, it may be doomed to the same fate as the curlew, whose demise was ignored by successive Ministers with responsibility for wildlife until the bird was close to extinction.

In 2015, the Pope, who took the name of Saint Francis of Assisi, a man who abhorred animal cruelty, tweeted a line from the Catholic Catechism: “It is contrary to human dignity to cause animals to suffer or die needlessly.”

I was reminded of that quote when I heard Rita Connolly sing The Deer’s Cry and saw the vibrant, evocative image of the hare on the video screen. I would implore the Taoiseach and all our politicians to take pity on the persecuted Irish Hare and put an end to Ireland’s most barbaric blood sport.

John Fitzgerald

ACTION ALERT

Contact Minister Josepha Madigan and the NPWS and demand an end to the licensing of hare shooting (and hare coursing). The Hare - one of Ireland's most cherished creatures - should be allowed to live free from persecution.

Minister Josepha Madigan
Minister for Culture, Heritage & the Gaeltacht
Phone: +353 (0)1 631 3800
Email: josepha.madigan@oireachtas.ie, ministers.office@ahg.gov.ie, wildlifelicence@ahg.gov.ie, john.fitzgerald@ahg.gov.ie, Gerry.Leckey@ahg.gov.ie, nature.conservation@ahg.gov.ie
Leave a comment on Facebook: https://facebook.com/JosephaMadiganFG
Tweet to: @josephamadigan

John Fitzgerald
Director, National Parks and Wildlife Service
Phone: +353 (0)1 888 3242
Email: john.fitzgerald@ahg.gov.ie

Contact An Taoiseach (Prime Minister) Leo Varadkar and ask him to ban hare coursing and give permanent protection to hares.

An Taoiseach, Leo Varadkar
Department of the Taoiseach,
Government Buildings,
Upper Merrion St, Dublin 2
Telephone: +353 (0)1-6194020
Email: taoiseach@taoiseach.gov.ie, leo.varadkar@oireachtas.ie
Tweet to: @campaignforLeo Tweet to @campaignforLeo
Leave a comment on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/campaignforleo/

Express your support for a ban on coursing. Sign and share the petition

Ban Blood Sports in Ireland
https://www.change.org/petitions/ban-blood-sports-in-ireland