As hare confirmed an endangered species, the time has come to finally ban coursing

AFTER its abandonment of the infamous tent at the Galway Races, Fianna Fáil may soon find the courage, and the human decency, to drop its support for the practice of live hare coursing.

It has an official policy of backing a so-called sport in which the gentlest and most inoffensive creature in the Irish countryside is baited and abused for fun.

The party’s coalition partners, the Greens and PDs, have frequently voiced opposition to coursing. The Greens are committed to banning it But Fianna Fáil remains committed to the baiting game. The party’s cosy relationship with coursing clubs may also be contributing to the hare’s newly confirmed status as an endangered species in Ireland.