Andrew Doyle (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

On the last question, I do not have the figures off the top of my head but I can certainly obtain them for the Deputy. I did not attend the national coursing championships in Clonmel but I understand no hares were killed in them. Whether that answers the Deputy's question, I do not know.

If the Deputy was to ask the coursing club and the greyhound board whether they wanted to stay separate, they would probably agree with her, in that they want clear and distinct lines between their roles and functions. Some greyhound owners might prefer there to be no live coursing, but others do not. Animal protection is governed by other legislation, by the way, primarily in animal health and welfare legislation.

Coursing is not everyone's cup of tea, but it is part of the tradition. It is easy to sit up here in Dublin and judge people, but people in Dublin do things that are not always compatible with country life either, and I do not hear people in the country being quite so judgmental.

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