Crowds gathered for a protest in Dublin today calling for fox hunting to be outlawed in Ireland, three months after the Dáil voted against banning the sport.
Rural Ireland Against Foxhunting had organised the protest, pointing to polling that the organisation says shows that 77% of people across the country support a ban.
“Sinn Fein, Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael, listen to the majority,” the group said in a statement ahead of this afternoon’s protest, adding: “It’s 2026, not 1826.”
In December, People Before Profit-Solidarity TD Ruth Coppinger failed in her bid to amend the Animal Health and Welfare Act (2013), which contains an exemption that allows fox hunting. The amendment to the Act would have made fox hunting an illegal and unlawful activity, while also banning trail hunting and the snaring and trapping of foxes.
The Bill was, however, defeated by a large majority. 124 TDs from Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and Aontú voted to keep fox hunting legal, while just 24 TDs voted in favour of a ban.
Speaking on Newstalk Radio on Wednesday, Minister for Farm Safety, Independent Michael Healy-Rae, said that the vote was an example of “democracy in action,” stating that he does not believe that the Dáil should revisit the issue.
“We had a vote in the Dáil on a proposal to ban this,” said Healy-Rae ahead of today’s protest.
“And the result of that was 24 people wanted to ban it and 124 people wanted to let it as it is. Now, that’s democracy at work.”
Healy-Rae and others who voted against the bill have claimed that controlling fox numbers is important for farmers and for the survival of vulnerable livestock.
“If we don’t have people who are out killing foxes and controlling their numbers, what you will have is you’ll have a different type of disaster,” he claimed.
“If we don’t control numbers by whatever means, whether that’s people out with hounds hunting, whether it’s the farmer who goes out at night and has to stay up late to protect his sheep that are lambing.”
“I’ve seen fields that have been torn asunder with the limbs of small little baby lambs after being attacked by foxes,” added the Minister.
‘Father Ted’ actress Pauline McLynn was among those who attended the protest outside Leinster House.
“It just doesn’t make any sense that a very beautiful creature should be chased to within an inch of its life and then torn apart in the most excruciating death in the name of sport or even tradition,” she said.
“How is it that it is even happening let alone legal in the 21st century?” the actress wrote on Instagram.
“Just because something’s traditional, and the tiny tradition at that, doesn’t mean that it’s any good. There’s no place for it any more,” she argued.
Protestors held signs which read: “Cruel, barbaric, unjust” and “lose the cruelty.”
“You can’t silence 77%” another sign carried at the protest read, referring to polling which has been cited by Ruth Coppinger TD in the Dáil.
That opinion polling was carried out by Ireland Thinks last year across a sampling of 1,000 people – finding that 72% believe foxhunting as a sport should be banned in Ireland. 17% said they were against the Bill and 11% said they were unsure.
McLynn said the protest represented the “thousands of people who feel very strongly about this,” as she criticised the approach taken by Irish politicians.
“In recent polls, over 70 per cent of the population said they want fox-hunting banned. And in this, the 21st century, I have no idea why it still exists.”
‘WHAT WORRIES THEM SO MUCH ABOUT THIS ISSUE?’
She claimed that: “A tiny few quite psychopathic people get great joy out of terrorising a wild creature that deserves to be left alone, and then, when it is caught, faces an excruciating death being ripped apart by hounds.”
“It’s not fair on the horses, it’s not fair on the dogs, and it’s certainly not fair on the foxes,” McLynn continued. “And I have no idea why it still exists in what we call a society here in Ireland today.”
Speaking of the politicians who voted against a ban, she added: “I’d love to know what worries them so much about this issue that they hide behind a party whip and force all of their members to vote with the consensus, which an awful lot of them within the party do not agree with.
Calling for a free vote on the issue, she said: “Why can’t you be free of the whip? All of the parties – and let everyone vote with their conscience? And then the people can properly represent the nation as our public representatives and vote for a ban on fox hunting. It’s a simple thing.
“They have one job, and this is it, at this moment in time. I am sick and tired also. of all of the different factions trying to make a wedge between rural dwellers and those of us who have to live in towns or cities,” she continued.
“Do you not realise that we’ve got foxes too? So, you know, it’s not just a peculiarly rural idea that fox hunting should either exist or be banned. A vast majority of people living in rural areas are against it also.
“And we, the city dwellers, we understand too, you know, because we live side by side with the foxes. I don’t want to be part of a country that supports a cruel and barbaric and archaic practice, like fox hunting.
“And I think now is the time for us all to make even more noise about this. I stand here, and you all stand here, representing not just yourselves, but hundreds, and indeed, thousands of other people in your constituencies all around the country.
“So the people there, the TDs, need to listen, because we are not just here alone. We represent thousands and hundreds and thousands of people who feel very, very dearly about this, and we really need you to listen now and listen to what we want, because we put you in there and we are telling you now that we want something different,” the actress added.