Denis Landy (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I congratulate and commend all those involved in the running of the 90th national coursing meeting in Clonmel which was held over two weekends owing to bad weather. It finished last weekend and started the weekend before. In particular, I commend those involved in hare husbandry for a number of weeks. Fantastic crowds turned out and fantastic support was to be seen. However, I raise another matter in connection with Clonmel and the many counties in which coursing meetings are held, including Clare, Limerick, Waterford and Kilkenny, to name but a few. Gangs of unscrupulous characters are coming onto lands where open coursing meetings are being arranged, stealing and destroying hares and leaving the land and property utterly destroyed. This matter was brought to my attention by a long-standing coursing enthusiast, Councillor Andy Moloney, from Cahir. He informed me that damage had been done to hares and lands across the south east by gangs who were robbing hares and, in some cases, killing them for their own enjoyment, with groups of dogs, which were unlicensed and should not have been carried in any vehicle.