Madam, - A report issued recently by Minister for the Environment John Gormley revealed shocking news about the state of our wildlife and its habitats. Some species are described as on the brink of extinction, while the status of others, including hares and otters, is "poor".
The Irish hare is designated as a highly protected species under the 1976 Wildlife Act. Yet it is persecuted, legally, by hare hunters, including harrier and beagle packs. In addition, hare coursers are permitted to snatch, under licence from the Minister for the Environment, up to 7,000 hares from the wild annually for use as live lures before greyhounds at coursing meetings. Meanwhile, illegal hare hunters with lurchers and greyhounds routinely trespass on farmlands, hunting hares with impunity, while an under-staffed and under-resourced ranger service endeavours to enforce the Wildlife Act.
In the case of the otter, it took a directive from Europe to stop its persecution by hunters with hounds up and down Munster riverbanks, but the danger still remains from those who have switched to mink hunting along the same rivers, thereby creating huge disturbance for otters. We strongly suspect they are also continuing to hunt otters under the guise of hunting mink — a cruel activity in itself, which must be outlawed if otters and their habitats are to be properly protected.
For many years now, the Irish Council Against Blood Sports has been calling on successive ministers for the environment to stop issuing hare-netting licences and to outlaw harrying and beagling, all to no avail. Meanwhile our neighbours in Northern Ireland have suspended all hare hunting and coursing in the past few years. Not to be thwarted, the Northern coursers travel south every year to be hosted by clubs from the Republic, thus creating even more pressure on our beleaguered hare population.
As for the badger, another of our important "protected" species, it continues to be cruelly snared and shot in its thousands by the Department of Agriculture, as part of the long running TB fiasco, while the Minister for the Environment, who is responsible for its conservation, is told to butt out. Will we have to wait for another slap on the wrist from Europe to protect our wildlife? I hope Minister Gormley will take the initiative now to give our precious wildlife the protection it so desperately needs. - Yours, etc,
AIDEEN YOURELL, Spokesperson, Irish Council Against Blood Sports, Mullingar, Co Westmeath.