Delays hit Clonmel coursing after severe overnight frost

A severe overnight frost led to the postponement of the final day of the National Coursing Meeting in Clonmel, which thousands of enthusiasts were expected to attend.

Temperatures fell to about -4C in the Southeast on Sunday night and a covering of cloud early yesterday meant there was no likelihood of a thaw in advance of the planned start-time of the coursing events at 11.30am.

Organisers from the Irish Coursing Club made the decision at about 10am to postpone the final day until next Sunday, as the frost-stricken hard ground would have made it unsafe to run greyhounds and hares at the Powerstown Park venue.

Several animal welfare groups, opposed to hare coursing, were due to stage a protest outside the racecourse at lunchtime yesterday and they are likely to re-gather on Sunday for the rescheduled event.

They already held a picket last Friday outside the Dublin offices of the betting firm Boylesports, one of the main sponsors of the national meeting in Clonmel.

Yesterday’s main fixtures were the finals of the Boylesports Derby, the Greyhound & Pet World Oaks, the Kevin Smith Champion Stakes, and other deciders.

Tom Hayes, minister of state at the Department of Agriculture —whose remit includes the greyhound industry and who is also a local TD — said on Sunday that people were entitled to protest but the coursing event was in line with animal welfare regulations.

“With the new regulations regarding muzzles [covering the greyhounds’ mouths] and the quality of the way they’re looking after the hares, the issue of cruelty is well put to bed,” Mr Hayes said while attending day two of the meeting. “The department are watching everything and the vets here are looking after everything in relation to animal welfare.”

Mr Hayes said the three-day event is a “great boost” economically for Clonmel and the surrounding area as thousands of visitors pour in every February from across the country and overseas to watch the coursing.

Another local TD, Independent Mattie McGrath, said yesterday that he would “resist any attempt” to have the event cancelled, following calls by animal rights protesters for a withdrawal of support for the Clonmel meeting.

“Every year we witness what I can only call the near-hysterical antics of those opposed to the rural practice of hare coursing; antics I might add which have led to the actual deaths of many hares due to the deliberate and reckless behaviour on the part of some activists over the last number of years,” said Mr McGrath.

“It is a point that is continually lost on those opposed to this practice that the very banning of the sport would almost certainly increase the threat to animal welfare.”

Referring to a recent spate of illegal hare-poaching in the area, he said that, by contrast, the coursing industry is “regulated by strict guidelines which are rigidly adhered to”.