Sir, – Whatever happened to the report of the Citizens’ Assembly on Biodiversity Loss, which was released a few months ago amid a fanfare of political grandstanding and carefully calibrated musings from the nation’s makers and shakers?
The report laid bared the stark reality of how we stand to lose much of our diverse indigenous wildlife. A quarter to a third of all species on this island are threatened with extinction, including more than 25 per cent of bird species. Even supposedly protected habitats are faring dismally, despite their official “well looked after” status.
We haven’t heard anything since about the report’s recommendation that nature should be accorded special rights in the Constitution.
Hundreds of people made submissions to the assembly in the months leading up it its final deliberations. I was one of them. My submission related to the ongoing persecution of our iconic Irish hare, which can still be legally captured and used in coursing – to be chased, terrorised, and in many cases mauled or otherwise injured by dogs.
I wasn’t alone in calling for an end to the cruel exploitation of a mammal that has been in decline for the past half century due to habitat loss, in addition to predation of both the legal and illegal variety. A fifth of all the submissions received by the assembly called for a hare coursing ban and the full protection of this gentle and inoffensive creature. Aptly so, given that our native hare is celebrated as the very symbol of Irish biodiversity. I’m not optimistic that our politicians will put the preservation of wildlife before the security of their Dáil seats, but who knows? I may be wrong.
JOHN FITZGERALD,
Callan,
Co Kilkenny.