Vinnie Jones told to stay away from coursing event

Animal rights activists have accused hard man Vinnie Jones of glamorising hare coursing and have ordered him to stay away from the National Coursing Meeting in Clonmel later this month.

The 40-year-old film star and former footballer confirmed last week that he will attending the three-day event, where a greyhound he co-owns ran last year.

Hundreds of coursing fans from the UK are expected to travel to Clonmel because of the British ban on the sport.

But the League Against Cruel Sports, which organised a protest at a meeting in Kilkenny on Saturday, told Mr Jones, 40 to stay away.

Spokesperson Dr Jane Evans said today: “It’s deplorable that somebody like Vinnie Jones in the public eye should be supporting animal cruelty.

“His support for the cruel sport is only serving to popularise and glamorise it to others, especially young people.”

Dr Evans urged Mr Jones to ’think again’ about supporting the Clonmel meeting, where his dog, Boavista reached the semi-final of the Derby last year.

“He’d be better off down the pub with a few of his mates where he’d be doing no harm to anybody,” Dr Evans said in Dublin.

The League Against Cruel Sports held a 50-strong demo against the Seamus Hughes Cup held at Sevenhouses, Kilkenny.

Mr Jones told TV3’s The Brendan Courtney Show last week that he would be attending the South Tipperary event between January 30 – February 1, the highlight of the Irish coursing calendar.

The former Wimbledon and Wales player owns over a dozen greyhounds which he regularly races in the UK.

A frequent visitor to Ireland, he has Irish roots and owns a house outside Killarney.

He has previously attended a number of small coursing events in Co Clare, where he has friends in Miltown Malbay.

Dr Evans reiterated calls on the Irish Government to ban the netting of hares and introduce mechanical lures instead of live hares at coursing events.