BORN in Duhallow country, Pat Hayes has now been master of the “dashing” Duhallow Foxhounds for over 10 seasons and, in between, he found time to take on the mastership of the Iveagh Foxhounds in far flung Down. At the beginning of this season, Hayes took over the chairmanship of fox hunting’s representative body, the IMFHA, from the previous chair Lord Waterford MFH.

An all-round sportsman, Hayes has represented Ireland at four World Fly Fishing Championships in New Zealand, Canada, Italy and Wales. For many years he has run his own business in Mallow as a purveyor of animal feeds, firearms, saddlery and really anything for the fieldsports enthusiast from hunting to fishing and shooting.

He enjoys his work and it brings him into close contact with many of the people involved in the other fieldsports that fall under the FACE Ireland (European Federation for Hunting and Conservation) umbrella. A member of the committee of FACE Ireland, he is also on the board of the Field Sports Insurance Group.

He described some genuine red letter days and there are none better than with the Duhallow.

“I’ve hunted in Ireland, England, America and Portugal, but of course the best days that I’ve had have been at home in the Duhallow country – sure you wouldn’t expect me to say anything else would you?” he told The Irish Field. “I recall one most memorable day with Michael Buckley and his hounds hunted from Vincent Cagney’s of Gibbings Grove, Milford and we ended up eight miles away near Springfield Castle, Dromcollagher crossing the toughest of Duhallow country.

“I have had some memorable days with our previous huntsman Gerard Withers (RIP), who was one of the best huntsman that I have hunted with. But, in fairness, I have had many good days and I like to think at the beginning of every season that the best days are yet to come.”

IMFHA chairmanship

At the beginning of this season, he took on the chairmanship of fox hunting’s representative body the IMFHA. Founded way back in 1848, it is one of the oldest sporting bodies in Ireland, pre-dating the GAA by more than 30 years. With a membership of 45 foxhound packs over the 32 counties, its committee would meet approx. 10 times a year.

Now in the off season, Dickie Power spoke to the chair about his plans for the association and hunting in general.

DP: The role of the association is somewhat unknown even to experienced foxhunters, so what is its function?

PH: The mission statement for the IMFHA is to represent the sport of foxhunting by organising, directing and controlling the Association’s capacity and capabilities to maintain and protect the future sustainability of our sport and our registered hunt clubs. The IMFHA - and I would respectfully suggest other fieldsports bodies – can no longer just amble along dealing with what we might call “domestic issues” and, to our minds, we have to be looking to the future and strengthening the foundations that our predecessors laid to be ready for the fight ahead.

We only have to look at the appalling situation in the UK to see what could be ahead of us, but the time to prepare is now and not when the wolf is at your door.

DP: Insurance has been a huge issue for your member hunts in recent times.

PH: One of our main priorities is to provide insurance cover for our members. We went through a difficult few years trying to secure cover, but thankfully, along with the Irish Masters of Harriers’ Association and the Ward Union Hunt, we have secured a solution to the issue of hunt insurance.

I am, along with my colleagues, currently trying reduce the cost of insurance to our members. This was a very trying time for hunting in general, but I am confident we will see a return to the market from other insurers and this will create competition which should reduce the cost of insurance in time. We have an excellent product now and we are heading in the right direction with the appointment of an executive officer to look after the day-to-day running of the renamed Field Sports Insurance Group.

I do appreciate that the cost of hunt insurance is a huge draw on hunt clubs’ finances. In order to demonstrate compliance and to reassure our insurers that we are a good insurable risk, we have introduced new measures such as making sure members are compliant, audits of hunt clubs to ensure that they are recording who is out on a day, that waivers are signed up and that everyone out hunting is either a full member of that hunt or a registered day member.

Let me be quite clear; there is no room for error here and we are only as strong as our weakest link when it comes to the administration of the terms and conditions around the hunt insurance.

The responsibility is on everyone out hunting to be aware that what you do on a day may have an impact down the road.

We have just launched a new hunting app, which will streamline a lot of the work involved in organising a day’s hunting. This app is very similar to the Its plain sailing app which a lot clubs are currently using. Clubs can contact our secretary re: this new app at secretary@imfha.ie and we have also just launched our new website (www.imfha.ie).

DP: How important is the role of young people in hunting today?

PH: Another very important factor is encouraging the younger generations to participate in hunting. The Irish Pony Club consists of 60 branches spread throughout the country with approximately 3,500 members aged up to 23. Some of these branches actively promote hunting and are connected with their local hunt pack. While others, depending on the DC or who is in charge, will influence the connectivity between the hunt club and the pony club. We in Duhallow have encouraged our Pony Club branch over many years and we have attracted many young riders to participate in hunting.

I was involved in coaching the Irish Pony Club Tetrathlon team for many years and I still coach the Duhallow Tetrathlon Team through being involved with our Pony Club. I encouraged Pony Club members to come out and hunt with us and I know from other clubs this works extremely well for them also.

We also hold an annual Young Riders day out hunting where the huntsman or myself or others will explain the whole process of the hunting day. What is the function of the huntsman, whips, master, fieldmaster and so on. We take them to the coverts and explain the different calls on the hunting horn. This is working extremely well. Educating and involving our younger people in all aspects of hunting is fundamental to the continuous growth of our sport. Thankfully we currently have a large number of junior and teenage members. This is really the grassroots of the business of promoting our sport.

I have appointed James Norton as our communications and strategic advisor. The first two editions of our newsletter have been well-received and we are currently preparing a third edition with future editions being planned for late November and late January next.

There are a lot of changes that I hope to steer the association through over my term, not least a review of the constitution and rules. We will reissue our social media policy, revise our safeguarding policy and continue to inspect kennels to ensure that the highest standards of kennel management are attained. We will also be looking at the finances of the association to ensure that we have funding in reserve for the rainy day.

Before I go, might I just remind your readers that the IMFHA Hound Show will be held at Stradbally Hall on Sunday, July 6th and everyone would be welcome to come and see the best of our hounds on display.