Sir, I hope you will allow me to reply to Mr O'Halloran's letter on sporting agendas. As spokesman for an organisation which promotes the killing of animals for fun, it's no surprise that he should attempt to discredit animal welfare organisations. He has done this by writing misleading comments about the Irish Council Against Blood Sports (ICABS).
ICABS is a limited company, "and by company law has "members"in a company law sense. Mr O'Halloran's "legal membership" comment refers to these company law members of ICABS. He is not referring to the thousands of people from all over the country who support us, morally and financially. Mr O'Halloran should be more careful, as his other claims and figures for shooting supporters could be seen as equally misleading.
The shooting lobby also seems determined to prove that we are secretly campaigning against shooting. It must be so secret that even I am not aware of it. I issue my own challenge to Mr O'Halloran to produce the evidence. We campaign against activities which involve one animal being set upon by others coursing, fox hunting and stag hunting. Our leaflets are freely available from the address below, and your readers can judge for themselves.
Mr O'Halloran's agenda is clearly to discredit us. He is possibly nervous about our success in the muzzling of coursing, and aware of the growing public unease at the killing of animals for fun, and at animal abuse in general. Maybe he is also worried about the messages from the UK where, in the wake of the Dunblane massacre, the public support for the shooting lobby has rapidly evaporated. Yours, etc.,
Chairman, Irish Council Against Bloodsports, Fitzgerald House, Grand Parade, Cork.