Proposal to ban hare coursing gets little support within Cork County Council

Councillors said they wouldn’t support the motion because they believe that hare coursing is now very well regulated and is no longer cruel

Some councillors said banning hare coursing would be yet another attack on rural Ireland. File Picture:David Maher / SPORTSFILE

Cork County Council’s two Green councillors found very few allies when they sought to have a motion passed by colleagues calling on the government to ban hare coursing.

Green councillors Liam Quaide and Alan O’Connor were told by many colleagues from other parties they wouldn’t support them because they believe that hare coursing is now very well regulated and is no longer cruel. Mr Quaide said a ban on hare coursing is a longstanding policy position of his party.

“It’s a perversion of what a sport is meant to be. It involves the physical domination of a small, sensitive animal by a much larger one. It’s no exaggeration to say that the hares subjected to these events are terrorised by the dogs who are in pursuit of them,” he said.

However, he faced a barrage from rural councillors, many of who admitted to loving the sport and being involved in it. Others who weren’t said banning it would be yet another attack on rural Ireland.

The opposition to the Green motion was led by Fine Gael councillor Eileen Lynch.

“I've been involved in the greyhound industry, racing and coursing for all of my life, a fact I have never shied away from and something I am proud to be a part of. For me and many others, this is part of our heritage, our culture, and our tradition. Like many other rural pursuits which the Green Party is trying to remove from the rural landscape, coursing is a part of rural Ireland,” Ms Lynch said.

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Ms Lynch said research from Queens University Belfast showed there are 18 times more hares in areas where there are coursing clubs in comparison with the wider countryside.

“Coursing's highly regulated. The licence for coursing and capture is granted and reviewed on a yearly basis. The licence has many conditions including that there is a vet present at all meetings and that a sick, injured or pregnant hare is not coursed,” she said.

Four councillors voted in favour of the Green's motion, with 36 against and three abstensions.