Shock and Horror as Irish Greens ‘compromise’ on yet another principle

ireland / britain | environment | news report Wednesday October 10, 2007 19:35 by James - WSM (Cork)

Green government minister John Gormley Gives Coursing Go Ahead

Green Party Minister John Gormley has given the green light for the Irish Coursing Club to capture hares for the coming enclosed hare coursing season.

Pity the Green Voting Hare

Traditionally this was done in open fields with large numbers of men usually forming a human circle to enclose the chase and eventually break the circle to free the hare after a winning dog was chosen. As time went on and the sport became more professionalised enclosed coursing was developed where an enclose space was used to course captured hares.

Though both versions of the sport traumatize the hares, in open-coursing the hare generally was in its own environment and was rarely killed. In enclosed coursing kills are more frequent and repeated coursing of the same hares is not unusual (though not legal). For this reason this blood sport has been a big target of animal rights activists. It has waxed and waned as an issue down the years, but has rarely come under serious threat despite massive public opposition in opinion polls because both Fianna Fail and Fine Gael have significant numbers of coursing followers in their ranks and hares don't have a lot of political clout. Thus it was the Green Party who capitalised on this and other animal rights issues, adopting the most pro animal perspectives of the Irish political parties and garnering support from people motivated by such issues.

However as we now know the Green Party's leadership is less concerned with hares than office and our fluffy friends had to be sacrificed for the greater good of getting into office and staying there. Thus John Gormley Minister for the Environment has issued the licences in spite of his party's past radicalism on the issue. The question now is what will the anti blood sports lobby do? They are unlikely to see for the foreseeable future a Minister who is so close to them (in theory anyhow). Those who had illusions in the electoral road to victory must now begin the wearying process of re-assessment of priorities. On US troops in Shannon, on Shell in Rossport, on Tara, and now on bloodsports the gradual abandonment of policy by the Greens is shocking, but hardly surprising.