Joe Carey (Clare, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the opportunity to speak in opposition to the Bill. The rural activity of government-regulated hare coursing and the Irish Coursing Club have been persistently condemned by the proposer of this legislation and by anti-coursing groups. The points made repeatedly by the anti-coursing lobby are based on misinformation and fabrication.

Regulated coursing is managed under the auspices of the Irish Coursing Club which is the central authority for more than 80 local coursing clubs throughout the State. In my County Clare there are six coursing meetings held by clubs in Liscannor, Ennis-Clarecastle, Miltown Malbay, Kilrush-Killimer, south Clare, Cooraclare and Tradree. These Clare clubs, together with the other 74 coursing clubs nationwide hold meetings on an annual basis, typically over a two day period. Coursing is supervised by the National Parks and Wildlife Service and is monitored by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine. It is regulated for under the Animal Health and Welfare Act 2013, the Open Seasons Order 2015, the Wildlife Act 1976, the 26 conditions attached to the license issued annually by the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht and by the rules of the Irish Coursing Club.

Hares are caught in the wild several weeks ahead of a coursing event. During that time the hares live in purpose-built hare parks where they are fed and cared for. Contrary to what anti-coursing groups claim, hares that are pregnant, are nursing their young or are injured or sick are absolutely not used for coursing and this is made explicit in the license conditions set out by the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht. Muzzles were introduced into coursing events in 1993. Regulated coursing events consist of two muzzled greyhounds released simultaneously to chase a hare for about 20 seconds until the hare reaches a deliberately designed escape hatch. Killing or mauling the hare is not the purpose of regulated coursing.

Hare coursing has changed positively over time and particularly so in recent years. One very good measure of these changes is the actual number of hares returned to the wild after coursing events. For the 2015 and 2016 coursing season, reports demonstrate that 99.33% of hares were returned to the wild after coursing. That number stood at 85% in 1992 which was prior to muzzling. This represents a significant improvement. This fact is backed up by the 2007 hare population survey commissioned by the then Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government and conducted by Quercus, an independent environmental research unit based at Queen's University Belfast. The survey calculated the total hare population in the Republic of Ireland to be 565,000; the 5,348 hares netted for the 2015-16 season represent less than 1% of this total.

I have an interest in greyhound racing and coursing. My father continues to be involved in greyhounds having taken an interest in the sport from a young age and there is a strong tradition of greyhounds on my late mother's side of my family. One of my earliest memories as a young boy is of travelling to a trial in Miltown Malbay in the back of a car with two fawn greyhounds. County Clare and my own village of Clarecastle has a deep association with greyhound racing both on the track and field. The late Paddy Darcy of Ennis bred Bypass Byway the winner of the 2002 Irish Greyhound Derby. His training yard is a stone’s throw from my house. Jerry ‘The Stud’ Moloney from Ballyboy in Ennis bred Sidaz Jack the winner of the 2013 English Greyhound Derby. The Moloney family of Lissane in Clarecastle owned and trained the great Danagher’s Best which won the Coursing Derby in 2003. The year previous to that Murty’s Gang won the Coursing Derby for Clarecastle’s ATM syndicate with the dog being bred and reared by the Gallery family of Ennis.

Coursing people go through their lives hoping to have a runner at the national meeting in Clonmel. For some this dream comes true but unfortunately some people never get the opportunity to see their own dog going to the slips in Powerstown Park. Last year’s coursing season was very exciting for me. I attended a lot of meetings and had some success as part of the Déise-Banner syndicate. We won the Dungarvan bitch trial stake and qualified for the national meeting in Clonmel with our dark brindle bitch called Clodagh River. She was bred and reared by a great friend of mine, Shane O’Gorman from Portlaw in County Waterford who is also part of the syndicate as is Senator Paudie Coffey, my dad Donal Carey and my good friend from Newmarket on Fergus, Jody Halpin. Ultimately, Clodagh River was beaten in the third round by the brilliant Oaks winner Grace and Glamour. We have subsequently bred Clodagh River to last year’s derby winner Coolavanny Bingo and she has just had ten pups which are eight weeks old - five dogs and five bitches - that are wonderful, healthy, strong pups and please God they will make it to Powerstown Park in January 2018.

The national meeting is attended by more than 30,000 people each year, averaging 10,000 people per day. It is a wonderful showcase for coursing and offers enthusiasts a chance to meet up and catch up once a year. The national meeting gives a huge boost to economic life in Clonmel and it’s environs. The survival of coursing is absolutely dependent on the wellbeing of the hare population. Without the efforts of coursing clubs throughout the State the hare population would be without the significant layer of protection it currently enjoys from the hare husbandry initiatives afforded by coursing clubs on a 12 month basis. Quercus, which carried out the research for Queen's University, concluded that Irish hares are 18 times more abundant in areas managed by the Irish Coursing Club than at similar sites in the wider countryside.

A point that is never raised by the anti-coursing lobby is the whole area of unregulated, illegal hunting. This activity involves packs of unmuzzled dogs chasing any wildlife, and sometimes livestock, for unlimited hours with the aim of killing it. Numerous Irish and EU wildlife laws are broken, including the killing of protected species like the Irish hare. Illegal unregulated hunting is destructive to land and destructive to crops and livestock. In a well publicised case in April of last year, for example, four individuals were arrested in County Tipperary for poaching wildlife using particularly brutal practices. A similar type of case has been reported in west Wicklow. In general these brutal, cruel activities take place on private lands without the permission of landowners, with total disregard for all laws. Habitats are destroyed, gates are left open and there is no thought at all for the impact the illegal hunting has on the species. On a voluntary year round basis, local coursing clubs protect their hare preserves against illegal hunting, in conjunction with landowners, by carrying out surveillance of lands and reporting such illegal activities to the relevant authorities such as the local wildlife ranger and An Garda Síochána.

If this legislation before the House was to become law illegal hunting would thrive unchecked. This has been the case in Britain since coursing was banned there and is the case in this State wherever coursing clubs do not exist. I am opposed to this Bill and look forward to voting against it next week.

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