The proposal to ban hunting is a diversion from the real issues facing rural Northern Ireland

A letter from Gary McCartney of Countryside Alliance Ireland:
By Letters
Published 27th Jan 2022, 01:56 BST
Updated 27th Jan 2022, 01:58 BST
A 2018 hunt in Crawfordsburn, Co Down, which drew crowds of supporters and opponents. A Stormont bill to ban hunting has been rejectedA 2018 hunt in Crawfordsburn, Co Down, which drew crowds of supporters and opponents. A Stormont bill to ban hunting has been rejected
A 2018 hunt in Crawfordsburn, Co Down, which drew crowds of supporters and opponents. A Stormont bill to ban hunting has been rejected

As we are gear up to go to the polls, political parties will inevitably be working on their manifestos.

It is, sadly, becoming clear that our significant rural community faces being ignored, while the Alliance Party and other politicians from various parties try to make political capital out of hunting.

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Despite a sizeable defeat in Stormont for John Blair’s (Alliance MLA, South Antrim) dangerous anti-hunting bill — which would have effectively criminalised the owner of a dog running in the general direction of a squirrel — his party remains fixated on an issue that has been put to bed and one which carries no traction among the electorate.

Letter to the editorLetter to the editor
Letter to the editor

Their own recent online petition calling for a return of this illogical legislation received minimal support and was quietly shelved.

It would be laughable, if the issues facing rural Northern Ireland weren’t so real. Health, housing, jobs and fighting rural crime are just some of the priority issues the countryside want politicians to address, not pest control.

It would be unwise, particularly for anyone seeking to represent the countryside, to pursue anti-rural policies which are, I believe, often based on falsehoods and misinformation.

Gary McCartney, Director Countryside Alliance Ireland

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