Saoirse McHugh: There is no urban-rural divide on a fox hunting ban

Polling conducted by Ireland Thinks shows that 72% are against fox hunting, while only 2% of us have ever engaged in it, writes Saoirse McHugh 

The fox hunting lobby and the politicians that support them say they are performing pest control for sheep farmers but I don’t think anybody believes that getting a pack of 50 dogs and 50 people on horseback to chase a single fox to exhaustion is a reasonable or efficient form of pest control. File photo: Sean Gallup/Getty Images

“Rural pursuits” was a big talking point of the recent presidential election. It’s a delicate euphemism for bloodsports, specifically hunting foxes with packs of dogs. 

Fox hunting is again on the political agenda as a bill tabled by Ruth Coppinger to ban the hunting of foxes with packs of dogs will be debated in the Dáil tomorrow.

Whenever this issue comes up, the usual TDs are up in arms claiming that fox hunting is vital for rural Ireland and farmers without providing any evidence that fox hunting is actually supported by farmers or people in rural areas. 

We are well used to the term ‘rural’ being used as a political shield in this country. It’s used as a way to undermine and discourage criticism or discussion and to lend an air of salt-of-the-earth wholesomeness to whatever is being discussed. 

New independent polling, carried out by Ireland Thinks, and commissioned by campaign group Uplift, paints a completely different picture than one of a country divided by opinion on fox hunting between rural and urban areas.

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The most stark number to come out from the polling was that only 2% of the population has ever taken part in a fox hunt, meaning 98% of the population has never ever been involved in a hunt. 

This immediately calls into question how something can be an integral part of rural heritage and culture when the vast majority of people have never been involved with it in any way. 

When asked whether or not they supported a ban on fox hunting, across every single region in Ireland and across every age group, there is large majority (72%) support for a ban on fox hunting. 

You would think that if fox hunting enjoyed rural support the way that some TDs claim it does, this would be visible in polling. But everywhere, across the whole country, people want fox hunting banned. So it remains a bit of a mystery as to why Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael, and especially Sinn Féin are so opposed to the banning of it.

The huge support for a ban on fox hunting should come as no surprise. It is a pastime inextricably linked to Ireland's colonial past. Historically it is a pastime for the British aristocracy and the ruling class of landed gentry here in Ireland. 

A protest against blood sports and fox hunting outside Leinster House. File photo: SAM BOAL/Collins Photos

This is illustrated strongly by the fact that 1845, the first year of the great famine here in Ireland, was also the year that the Irish Masters of Foxhounds Association was established, according to their own website. 

This connection, between fox hunting and the British ruling class, is one that is not easily ignored. The fact is that fox hunting is a colonial bloodsport and it does not enjoy the support of the rural communities where it occurs.

Another aspect of fox hunts and rural areas is that there’s an open antagonism between landowners and the hunts who cross their land, trample crops, worry livestock, and damage fences and ditches. 

The fox hunting lobby and the politicians that support them say they are performing pest control for sheep farmers but I don’t think anybody believes that getting a pack of 50 dogs and 50 people on horseback to chase a single fox to exhaustion is a reasonable or efficient form of pest control. 

I suspect many sheep farmers might prefer a fox crossing their land than a pack of 50 out-of-control fox hounds and a horde of riders on horseback. But I’m happy to be proven wrong.

In this discussion, the politicians that support fox hunting tell us again and again that their support for it is all because of farmers (while the same government seems ready to sign us up to the Mercosur trade deal, hated by farmers) but offer us no proof. 

Saoirse McHugh: 'The fact is that fox hunting is a colonial bloodsport and it does not enjoy the support of the rural communities where it occurs.'

The farm organisations haven’t said anything, there are no farmers on the radio saying there needs to be fox hunting. In fact, there doesn't seem to be any real-life support for fox hunting at all, from any sector.

So why then are the Government and Sinn Féin so determined to support this barbaric, outdated and colonial bloodsport, that has little to no real support in any part of the country? 

I’ve no answer for that but I hope it becomes clearer over the next few days as TDs face increasing pressure to vote for a ban.

• Saoirse McHugh from Achill Island is a well-known environmentalist and currently works as campaigns director at Uplift.