Sinn Féin confirm intention to back cruel, colonial hare coursing

Sinn Féin, ever keen to present itself as the vanguard of opposing illegitimate British presence in Ireland, have confirmed they will vote against banning the barbaric colonial practice of hare coursing.

Hare coursing involves a wild hare first being captured, a cruel and traumatising ordeal in itself. Organisers then trap the creature in an enclosure and set greyhounds in chase after it. The dogs are muzzled, but still frequently injure hares by crushing them or hurling them into the air. Vets often kill injured hares after an event.

Prior to rambling incoherently in the Dáil in defence of the so-called ‘sport’, the party’s spokesperson for agriculture, food, fisheries, and the marine, Martin Kenny TD, said:

It is an issue that needs further scrutiny and we need to look into it, but from a Sinn Féin perspective, we will not be supporting the proposal.

“Iconic” role of hare in Irish folklore ignored by Sinn Féin

This was as part of the July 2 debate on the Animal Health and Welfare (Ban on Hare Coursing) Bill 2020, which has reached its second stage. Paul Murphy TD of People Before Profit, who introduced the bill six years ago, kicked off the discussion by highlighting the scale of cruelty involved:

In the last 15 years, more than 65,000 Irish hares have been captured from the wild and forced to participate in barbarism all because a relatively small number of people enjoy watching animals being absolutely terrorised and some want to make money through gambling on this torture.

He went on to highlight the Irish hare’s unique identity, and longstanding role in Irish culture. The contrast could hardly be sharper to its role today, used as a tormented plaything of a British colonial torture ritual. Murphy said:

The Irish hare is a unique subspecies of mountain hare found only on the island of Ireland. We do not have many unique animals but the hare is one of them. Its cultural status was cemented for many decades on the old Irish three pence coin.

It is iconic across Irish folklore where hares were often seen as spirits of the dead, leading to a taboo against eating them. We could do with renewing and broadening that ancient taboo by banning hare coursing too.

Following Murphy’s introduction, Sinn Féin’s Kenny gave a series of nonsensical defences of the indefensible sport. He began by inadvertently undermining everything he went on to say, by acknowledging that there is a fundamental, unavoidable problem with cruelty in ‘sports’ like hare coursing. He said:

…there are of course always issues when it comes to sports of this nature where there can be abuse and animals can be the victims of cruelty…

The reality is that if animals are treated as objects purely for entertainment, coursers will mistreat them. He claimed this unresolvable flaw isn’t an issue because the sport is “highly regulated”.

No way to reform inherently cruel ‘sport’

Evidence from the Irish Council Against Blood Sports (ICABS) suggests otherwise, with coursers known to mislead regarding hare injuries. ICABS is encouraging constituents to email their TDs, and push them to vote in favour of a ban.

If the nature of the ‘sport’ — large dogs chasing a much smaller creature — inevitably leads to injuries for hares, any regulation is largely redundant. It is fundamentally a violent and cruel practice, and no amount of regulation can alter that fact.

Kenny went on to speak of the dangers of hare coursing “going underground”, saying it would then be more cruel and less regulated. He said places which had banned blood sports see this phenomenon occur. By this logic, we would never ban anything. Abusing animals for entertainment shouldn’t be legal — end of. It’s then simply a case of authorities ensuring the ban is properly enforced.

Furthermore, why only take this stance on hare coursing? There is no indication that Sinn Féin back legalised bare knuckle boxing, for example. Nor do they support drugs decriminalisation, which would end the current underground trade in such substances.

Sinn Féin will be joined by Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil when the vote on whether to continue torturing small mammals is held on July 8. Murphy called on the parties to allow their TDs a free vote, but the Journal has reported whipping will be used to enforce bloc votes.

77% of Ireland backs ban

In evidence of the party’s customary disdain for democracy, Fianna Fáil’s Niall Collins confirmed they would ignore the massive numbers who support a ban. He said there is no reason that the:

…government has to follow a course of action or a view expressed by an opinion poll.

As Murphy pointed out, 77% of the Irish public want the tawdry practice banned. There is no rural-urban divide. In fact, rural voters are even more supportive of a ban than those in urban areas, with 78% of the former in favour of a ban, and 76% of the latter. Murphy also highlighted the 85% of over-65s who support a ban, saying:

Any notion of a generational divide rooted in tradition is complete nonsense.

Despite the weight of arguments supporting a ban and widespread opposition, it appears Ireland may remain one of only three EU countries to still allow the sport. That is, unless Sinn Féin proves its opposition to colonial practices is more than words.

Featured image via FamersWeekly