Sadly, hare coursing continues in Ireland despite decades of campaigning. But the campaign continues too...a protest will take place on the opening day of the so-called “National Hare Coursing Festival” at Powerstown Park, Clonmel, Co. Tipperary, on Saturday, February 3rd.  The protest runs from 12 noon to 2 pm. An alliance of animal protection groups and individuals will come together for the demo. Everyone welcome. Placards will be provided or you can bring your own.

Thanks to all who contacted me with good wishes re. my books Bad Hare Days and Time to Stop Running. The first details the ups and downs of being an anti-cruelty campaigner (especially against hare coursing, while in the second I relate the fictional tale of a hare who takes on his human oppressors.. Apologies for not getting back to some people, but there were so many...so I'm saying thank you here!

Today (January 29th) I had the following letter published in the Irish Independent...The campaign goes on...some day we'll win protection for the gentle Irish Hare!

Letter in Irish Independent:

Our politicians who tell of their love for nature also support hare coursing

“Nature is in trouble,” a government minister acknowledged at the launch of an enhanced and long overdue Biodiversity Action Plan.

It certainly is, with the conservation status of almost a third of EU-protected species in Ireland and 85pc of our EU-protected habitats deemed to be “unfavourable”.

While the plan, which aims to address these and other threats to our natural environment, is welcome, I wonder just how committed the Government is to tackling the biodiversity crisis.

Even as the politicians were putting their gloss on the action plan, hare-coursing fans were gearing up for the grand finale of their five-month season. Their “traditional pastime”, as they call it, has involved snatching thousands of these supposedly protected animals from their fast-disappearing habitats for the purpose of watching them run from hyped-up dogs.

Apart from the well-documented cruelty of the practice – the hares can be mauled or have their bones crushed by the dogs – this pastime targets a creature that has been in decline for the past half century due to predation, urbanisation, and the ravages of modern farming.

The Biodiversity Action Plan pledges to tackle wildlife crime. Yet, this weekend, a racecourse in Co Tipperary will host the national finals of a “sport” that tops the list of wildlife crimes elsewhere in the EU. Even a few miles up the road in Northern Ireland, you’ll see notices in police stations urging people to report any sighting of the activity.

Among the politicians who have warmly and loudly proclaimed their love of nature and wildlife are the ones who have voted repeatedly against efforts to end this attack on the gentlest creature in the Irish countryside. This is a vulnerable species, and one of our few truly native mammals that has been on this island since before the last ice age.

The politicians expect us to believe they’re ever so concerned about the creatures of field and forest… while they pander to those who set dogs on hares for a laugh.

Usually, around this time of year, one or more newspapers carry a picture of a hare being tossed into the air like a rag doll by a greyhound or pinned to the ground, while lines of punters mark their betting cards.

Next time you see such a picture, ask yourself: Can we trust TDs and senators who support that to preserve what remains of our wildlife heritage?

-John Fitzgerald