FF are condoning 'cruel' coursing
The disciplinary measures enacted against certain coursing clubs for breaches of the Wildlife Act are to be welcomed. Though such action will not affect the holding of more than 70 baiting events nationwide, it at least represents an improvement on previous years when coursing clubs had a free hand to do as they pleased with the hare population.
I doubt very much that the sanctions imposed this season would ever have materialised if we had a Fianna Fail Minister for the Environment. That much is clear to us from decades of campaigning on this issue.
Hare coursing continues thanks to a powerful lobby within the Fianna Fail party. The best known and possibly the most dedicated member of this group is Tanaiste Brian Cowen.
I totally respect Mr Cowen's right to hold any opinion he wishes, but I wonder if he has considered the feelings of an estimated 70pc to 80pc (according to marketing surveys) of Irish people who oppose hare coursing and want it banned.
I cannot understand how such a talented man, with a brilliant legal mind and vast political experience, can throw his weight behind such an abhorrent practice.
The simple truth is that they are condoning and supporting one of the most inhuman forms of animal cruelty.
John Fitzgerald,
Callan,
Co. Kilkenny
