Farmers facing 'intimidation and threats' from nighttime trespassers with lurcher dogs hunting hares
'Farmers should not have to feel intimidation, threats, repeated trespassing, or deliberate damage to their property or goods.'
Public representatives have spoken out against hunters trespassing on farmland.
Repeated incidents of people entering farmland without permission, often at night, accompanied by lurcher dogs and using lamps or thermal scopes, were raised in the Dáil by Tipperary North Fianna Fáil TD Ryan O'Meara.
He said this was causing genuine fear and anxiety across the rural communities he represents.
He attended a meeting of about 30 farmers in Ballingarry, North Tipperary, from areas north of Borrisokane and south of Birr and Portumna.
“One farmer told me that the same individuals had returned to his land every week for five consecutive weeks.
Another farmer was threatened with a metal bar by an individual trespassing on his land.
“Others described electrical fencing being cut, which is not unusual when this stuff happens, livestock escaping onto roads and, in one instance, an animal being hit by a car."
These are matters of community safety, personal security and animal welfare, said the TD.
“Farmers should not have to feel intimidation, threats, repeated trespassing, or deliberate damage to their property or goods, by people on their land who do not have permission to be there.”
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He said farmers had raised concerns about the availability of nearby Garda stations, response times to this rural area, difficulties contacting the local Garda stations, and the arrangements of crossing district boundaries to respond to calls.
He said: “Rural communities need visible policing, and confidence that assistance can reach them when they need it.”
Mr O'Meara said the “dogs on the street” knew what these groups were doing when they went onto farmers' land with their lurchers, with their lamps and, in some cases, with their thermal scoping (thermal imaging devices which detect wildlife, even in full darkness).
“They are scoping the land to see what can be robbed. That is what farmers tell me time and again.
Responding on behalf of the Government, minister of state at the Department of the Environment Alan Dillon said there was robust trespassing legislation in place, and there were no plans to change the law in this regard.
“However, it is important that we address the safety, the security and the rights of individuals to enjoy their farm and their home and business without fear of intimidation.”
He said many farmers and rural dwellers were similarly impacted in South Mayo.
“As the deputy said, with thermal lamps and with lurchers, it is evident what the motives of these individuals are. The concerns raised today are really important, and I will convey them back to the minister for justice and ensure he responds.”
Also in the Oireachtas, Independent Senator Martin Conway said in Liscannor, Co Clare, people were coming from outside with lurcher dogs to chase hares, enter lands illegally, behave in a threatening manner towards people, and essentially intimidate people. He called on the minister for justice to bring it to the attention of the Garda Commissioner and the Garda chief superintendent in Clare.
“Resources need to be deployed to the Liscannor area to deal with this problem once and for all”.
In a recent Senate debate, Fine Gael senator PJ Murphy said there had been a great increase in illegal chasing of hares with greyhounds and lurchers all across Co Galway.
He referred to “groups of men being dropped off with dogs in both daylight hours and at nighttime”.
He said they were killing a large number of hares, and frightening and chasing livestock. “There were a number of cases in my area where flocks of sheep have mixed from farm to farm where gates have been left open.”
“Elderly citizens are very much afraid of these groups and gangs of men who are travelling around the countryside, very often at nighttime recently.”
He said the gardaí did not currently have the tools available which are necessary to tackle this “blight”.
He suggested Ireland follow the lead of Spain, where a saliva sample is taken when a dog is brought for mandatory microchipping. “If a sheep is found mauled, then saliva samples will be found and traced back to a dog and the owner.”
“If the faeces of a dog are found in areas where lurching occurred the night before, DNA samples can be taken from those faeces. They can be tracked back to the owner, and the dog can be taken from its owner and destroyed if necessary, with the owner prosecuted.”
