ENVIRONMENT Minister Martin Cullen’s failure to lift a shooting ban on State lands will cost the Government almost 118,000 votes in the EU and local elections, a sports’ body has warned.

SALMON stocks in Irish rivers, particularly the south and east, could run out unless the Government cleans up our waterways and restricts drift netting, the Green Party said yesterday.

A LOBBY group yesterday impressed on TDs from a number of parties the importance of traditional sports, such as angling, coursing and shooting in rural life.