A RANGE of options – as well as real hope – were spelled out to beleagured foxhound hunt clubs at a meeting in Cork this week as many struggle to secure future insurance cover in the current climate.

A well-attended meeting of southern foxhound packs was held on Thursday night in Mallow’s Springford Hall Hotel, called to discuss the serious insurance situation experienced by many hunt clubs nationwide.

Similar difficulties also prevail throughout the wider leisure and sporting sectors with many businesses facing closure. The matter raised in the Dail this week by Tipperary TD Jackie Cahill (FF) with Tanaiste Leo Varadkar TD (FG) (see story below).

Meanwhile, there was positive news on the insurance crux from Horse Sport Ireland this week who are shortly to launch a membership-insurance scheme offering both personal insurance and public liability cover up to €6.5 million to members (see story on these pages).

Chaired by solicitor Arthur Comyn, Duhallow, Thursday’s hunt meeting was wide-ranging and covered the many options open to hunt clubs and point-to-points currently struggling to acquire proper insurance next year and beyond.

The meeting was addressed by David Lalor MFH of the Laois Foxhounds who is chairman of the Irish master of Foxhounds Association, and he was followed by John Flannery of NARGC.

Flannery explained how the Irish shooting community had effectively set up their own insurance which has been running successfully for over 30 years.

Chairman of The Underwriting Exchange, Stephen O’Connor, a keen hunting man who is master of the Ward Union Hunt Club, expressed quiet confident on the prospects of achieving a workable solution which would see both hunting and point-to-pointing through, not just for the coming season, but well into the future.

Many searching questions came from the floor which O’Connor dealt with in a very professional and competent manner.

IMFHA chairman David Lalor also assured the meeting that everyone would be kept informed of all developments as they happened.

While details were not revealed at this point, it looks increasingly likely that strong changes will be made to the legal weight carried by beefed up legal waivers and indemnity in some type of self-funded scheme, backed by a major insurance company.

Legislation in focus

Speaking to The Irish Field yesterday (Friday), Tipperary TD Jackie Cahill said the legislation surrounding the insurance issue will have to be looked at. “The Government are saying this is a commercial issue, but I think we have to go back and look at legislation around indemnity and how waivers can be applied, but that is not a quick fix in terms of the time pressure on this.

“We will have to try and get some sort of formula where person in the sport can sign a waiver exemption, which says the organisers or land owners or so on are not at risk of being sued, that there is no malicious risk.

“It is a huge issue and I am hoping that insurance companies will give temporary cover to allow these natural winter activities like hunting and point-to-pointing to continue going this season and then try to work out a formula when not under as much time pressure,” he said.