How did hunting become a focal point of the Presidential election?

MADAM,

Those in the equine industry who watched RTE’s presidential debate on Tuesday night must have been scratching their heads to see foxhunting become a topic of discussion. Haven’t politicians enough to be getting on with in housing, health, migration, climate change and polarised politics?

So how did foxhunting become a controversial topic during this presidential election?

The answers can be found in the 2018 presidential election when the former president of the Hunting Association of Ireland, Gavin Duffy, ran for office. Despite the fact that over 700,000 people are involved in rural pursuits, he finished last of six candidates with 2% of the vote (32,198 votes in all). The successful candidate was Michael D Higgins, the former vice-chairman of the Irish Council Against Bloodsports. So, in a way you could say that ICABS trounced the HAI. And, at the time of writing this letter, Catherine Connolly is 18% ahead of Heather Humphreys, so it looks like the HAI will get another trouncing.

How did this happen in a country with few animal rights activists and almost a million of us involved in country sports, including point-to-pointing, greyhound racing and horse racing?

There is an insidious and gradual creep of animal rights activism here. They may be small in number but they are very dedicated, reasonably well-funded, strategically focused and articulate. They concentrate on young people and they work across a variety of animal rights and animal welfare organisations, creating the false impression that there is a large movement. They never miss an opportunity to lobby TDs, particularly those in marginal seats.

Few politicians in Fianna Fail, Fine Gael or Sinn Fein will actually come out in their support for foxhunting and other rural pursuits. What we need to remember is that the animal rights agenda is endless and everyone involved in rural pursuits, equestrian sports and animal husbandry need to wake up to the threat. Once foxhunting is banned, you are next.

Regrettably, our national politicians are not adequately briefed on the activities of animal rights groups. Neither are they conversant on the regulatory environment surrounding foxhunting as witnessed in the RTÉ debate. Despite the best efforts of FACE (Ireland) and some others, our message and the rationale behind our support for foxhunting is not getting through. There needs to be some urgent soul-searching within these organisations as to why this is happening.

Extremism of any kind is abhorrent and the radical animal rights agenda has no place in a modern, democratic society. It behoves us all to take an interest in radical animal rights extremism, to understand it and to have our counter arguments. It behoves our national organisations, and specifically those in leadership roles, to take a greater interest in strategic planning, training and the appointment of appropriately-trained people, on a full-time basis, to deal with political lobbying and media enquiries.

Over two millennia ago, the Chinese military strategist, Sun Tzu said “strategy without tactics is the slowest route to victory. Tactics without strategy is the noise before defeat”. Without a strategy, there is no plan, no resources, no training, no future.

Yours etc,

James E. Norton

Ballyragget

Kilkenny