John Gormley (Dublin South East, Green Party)

-----which sought to bring an end to the practices of bear baiting and bull baiting. From a quick read of the Hansard report of the debate, Members should note that the following arguments were used. It was stated at that time that this was a traditional rural pastime, that it was a trivial Bill, that the bears subject to the baiting were well cared for and that it would lead to a ban on hunting, shooting and fishing. Some 180 years on we can see that exactly the same arguments are being dusted down and taken off the shelf in the debate on stag hunting-----

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