Decision on Ward Hunt Imminent
Monday, 25 January 2010 13:00 The next few weeks will be crucial in the future of the Ward Union Hunt, the Secretary of the hunting union said recently. The Ward Union Hunt met with it’s members on January 17th in a meeting that aimed to continue the drive to prevent the government’s plan to abolish the 156 year-old hunt. The organisation has developed a campaign called RISE! meaning ‘Rural Ireland Says Enough’ and the campaign calls for a comprehensive review of the existing regulations with a view to seeing how any legitimate concerns may be met without an outright ban. Commenting on the progress of the hunts campaign, Ronan Griffin told the County Leader that ‘The plans are to get signatories and lobby every TD and Senator in the Country’, Griffin said, ‘We are putting the legal stuff together at the moment for the impact analysis and we will probably submit this in the next week to ten days.’ The impact analysis will cover the hunt’s position in areas such asheritage, economic contributions, knackery and field sports. According to a core briefing document distributed under the RISE! campaign, the hunt which is home to approximately 150 deer and 50 hounds, brings €1.4 million to the local economy. “We’ve asked the minister what he plans to do with the 150 deer held by the hunt, but he hasn’t replied. And what about the 50 hounds, what are they doing to do with them?” Griffin added. |
