A number of small protests by hunt saboteurs had little impact on the annual St Stephen's Day hunts around the State yesterday.
In Co Waterford about 30 anti-bloodsports protesters marked the start of the annual St Stephen's Day outing of the Waterford Foxhounds in Tramore. The protesters, mostly members of the Association of Hunt Saboteurs, the Irish Council Against Blood Sports and Badger Watch Ireland, gathered from mid-morning near the Majestic Hotel, from where the hunt set off shortly after midday.
While a couple of hundred onlookers applauded as some 60 horses and accompanying hounds left with a Garda escort, the hunt saboteurs sought to disrupt proceedings through the use of whistles and klaxons.
Ms Bernie Barrett, national co-ordinator of Badger Watch Ireland, said yesterday's event was organised to express opposition to what she described as "the entire act of foxhunting - going out and terrorising animals for amusement and sport".
Responding to claims that hunting was part of a traditional Irish Christmas for many rural dwellers, Ms Barrett said that tradition was "the most abused word in the English language" and asserted that "simply because hunting was accepted in the Dark Ages doesn't mean it is in the 21st century".
Meanwhile in Kells, Co Meath, four protesters gathered from about noon at Headfort Square in the town, to voice their anger at the start of the annual Meath Hunt. Gardaí in Kells said it was the first time a protest had been mounted against the hunt's seasonal meet, which had taken place "as long as anyone can remember".
"We were warned there would be a bit of a protest so there was a minor Garda presence," said Sgt Brian Morrissey. "They had placards but there was generally no problem." A number of bystanders had gathered to see off the hunt, made up of about 40 people with horses and hounds.
One of the bystanders tried to take the placards from the protesters and, according to one eye-witness, "there was a bit of minor argy-bargy".
According to Sgt Morrissey: "One of the protesters tried to make it a bit of an issue, tried to turn it into a Dame Street situation, said there was Garda intimidation, but it all passed off without trouble." There were no arrests, he said.
Speaking in Waterford, Ms Barrett said hunting was "now very clearly on borrowed time in the UK". She said a ban there would "send a very sharp message to the Irish Government and to hunt followers here that this terrible activity needs to be looked at."
An Independent Tramore town councillor, Mr Eddie Walsh, tied himself to a pole as part of his contribution to the protest. He untied himself once the hunt left the town centre.
Yesterday's largely peaceful protest in Tramore, which saw no arrests, was in marked contrast to some previous years, with 20 balaclava-clad saboteurs from England and Wales having been stopped by gardaí in January 1997 as they made their way to a hunt at Kilmeaden, Co Waterford.