Protestors expected at coursing festival

Protestors are due to gather outside Powerstown Park in Clonmel today, as the annual hare coursing festival gets underway.

The Irish Council Against Blood Sports say it is "appalling"' that the Minister for the Environment John Gormley is continuing to facilitate the cruelty of coursing.

That is despite new regulations that mean the greyhounds are now muzzled and coursing events are subject to an annual licence.

However, ICABS say a five-year ban on all hare hunting, which was introduced in the North, should be extended south of the border.