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.