Paul Murphy: We have an opportunity to ban cruel and barbaric hare coursing and we need your help

As with previous bans on animals in circuses and fur farming, public pressure is key to getting a ban on hare coursing passed in the Dáil, writes People Before Profit TD Paul Murphy

Mon, 29 Jun, 2026 - 14:51

Paul Murphy

Hare coursing is a cruel legacy of colonialism — now we have a chance to ban it.

On Thursday, my Animal Health and Welfare (Ban on Hare Coursing) Bill will be debated in the Dáil. It will be voted on by TDs on the following Wednesday, July 8. This will provide a long-awaited opportunity to finally end one of the cruellest blood sports, which is already banned across almost all of Europe.

The Irish hare is a protected species under the Wildlife Act, yet the same legislation allows the Government to authorise the trapping of hares and for their use in coursing.

What the Irish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals calls a "cruel, barbaric and outdated practice" is banned in the North and across almost all of Europe but remains legal here. This is to satisfy the gambling industry and the profiteering of a few.

Nets are used to capture more than 3,000 wild hares every year. This is cruel and stressful for these solitary creatures and often hares die or are seriously injured as a result. They are then ‘trained’ to run for their lives as two large dogs chase the hare to see which dog can turn it first.

Even with a muzzle, the dogs can still severely injure or kill the hares by crushing them or throwing them into the air. Hares also die from shock in the days and even weeks after being chased.

A recent Irish Council Against Blood Sports report on the 2025/2026 hare coursing season details the suffering of hares at coursing events through the season. It is a harrowing litany of maulings, injuries and deaths of these gentlest of animals.

In recent seasons, over 100 hares have been killed, euthanised, or died during coursing events. Many hundreds more were hit, mauled or injured.

Videos online from the Irish Council Against Blood Sports show the cruelty and injuries hares are subjected to as they are thrown around by greyhounds.

In addition, a 2023 study of survival rates for hares that have been coursed and released indicates a much higher death rate than for hares in the wild that were not captured and coursed.

In this study, only one of 20 coursed hares that were subsequently released could be located alive six months after release. This compares with eight of 20 uncoursed control hares.

Sometimes, in defence of hare coursing, it is suggested it is part of rural culture. That is not the case. Just like fox hunting, the origins of hare coursing lie in British colonialism, part of the fondness for cruel and unusual entertainment to give a thrill of using brutal power.

The vast majority of people in rural Ireland have absolutely nothing to do with hare coursing. A Red C opinion poll found 77% of people support a ban on hare coursing, including a majority of both urban and rural dwellers. The fact is most people want a society where the wellbeing of animals is put before profit and cruelty as entertainment.

There have been previous attempts to ban hare coursing. Independent TD Tony Gregory tried over 30 years ago, and TD Maureen O'Sullivan tried again in 2015.

I want to salute them and the work of the National Animal Rights Association, the Irish Council Against Blood Sports, the Irish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and Not For Your Entertainment, as well as many individual campaigners including actor Pauline McLynn, for their years of campaigning and for their support for this bill.

Public pressure is key to getting a ban on hare coursing passed in the Dáil. Our previous bills to ban wild animals in circuses and fur farming were passed because campaigners outside the Dáil built pressure on political parties and the government responded to implement the bans. We aim to build similar pressure on the Government to pass this bill.

The Irish Council Against Blood Sports has a petition on change.org calling for blood sports to be banned, including hare coursing, that has been signed by over 166,000 people.

The Council Against Blood Sports is also promoting a campaign for opponents of blood sports to contact TDs to call on them to support my bill when it is debated in the Dáil next week. In addition, the National Animal Rights Association is hosting a protest against hare coursing at the Dáil at 1pm on Thursday, July 2, the day of the Dáil debate.

My bill is being supported in the Dáil by the Social Democrats, the Labour Party, the Green Party and progressive independents.

At its recent ard fheis, Sinn Féin voted to support a ban on fox hunting, and I appeal to Sinn Féin members to press your leadership to continue that commitment to animal welfare by voting for a ban on hare coursing to match the ban that is in place in the North.

Hares suffer and die at every stage of this cruel so-called sport — during capture, while held captive, at coursing meetings, and due to stress after being hunted.

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Now we have an opportunity to end this suffering, but we need public support. I urge people to get involved in the campaign in whatever way they can: