A PRO-HUNTING lobby is stepping up its campaign by appealing directly for support to the customers of betting shops.
From today, posters created by Rise! (Rural Ireland Says Enough!) will appear in 200 betting shops throughout the State.
The group is campaigning against planned new animal welfare legislation included in the renewed Programme for Government at the insistence of the Green Party.
Customers in the shops will have an opportunity to sign a petition which states that the signatories support the campaign “to promote and defend” rural field sports and “to oppose John Gormley’s proposals to include hunt kennels in his new legislation on dog breeding, to ban stag hunting and the imposition of further unnecessary restrictions in any new law on animal health and welfare”.
Liam Cahill, a spokesman for Rise!, said three chains of bookmakers had already agreed to participate: Boyle Sports which has 140 outlets throughout the State, Bruce Betting which has 40 shops in Dublin and Stan James, which has 10 shops in Cork.
He said he hope other chains such as Celtic Bookmakers, William Hill and Ladbrokes would also join the campaign.
He claimed the timing was right because betting shops would be “much busier than normal” this month with the Cheltenham race meeting, and that “bookmakers and punters were beginning to realise that hunting is the bedrock of national hunt racing”.
Mr Cahill said if hunting was banned there would be a negative impact on the entire equine industry.
Rise! claims to have already secured widespread support from the racing world, including leading professional jockeys such as Ruby Walsh and Paul Carberry; the 500-member Qualified Riders Association (representing amateur jockeys) and the 430-member Irish Racehorse Trainers Association.
Last week, Green Party leader John Gormley confirmed that stag hunting would be banned. The Bill is expected to be published next month. Mr Gormley said in addition to “the issue of animal cruelty”, the ban was necessary “in an increasingly urbanised environment” for safety reasons.
Three Fianna Fáil TDs told RTÉ yesterday they would obey their party when it voted against stag hunting but, according to Mary Wallace, it would be “with a heavy heart” because it was an attack on rural traditions and went far beyond stag hunting itself.
Thomas Byrne, in whose constituency the Ward Union Stag hunt takes place, said it had been agreed in the Programme for Government all stag hunting would end. He did not agree with that but he would have to support it.
Mattie McGrath (South Tipperary) said a meeting between Fianna Fáil TDs and Mr Gormley had sought to convince him not to do away with the sport. While he stood four square behind rural pursuits, he hoped with amendments each side would get its way.