Alliance MLA will bring fox hunting bill back to Assembly - but DUP say ministers should deal with issue

John Blair says he will bring proposals to outlaw hunting with dogs through a private members bill - if and when the Assembly returns.

However, the former agriculture minister Edwin Poots says a private members bill is not the way to deal with the issue.

Mr Blair was speaking ahead of the annual Boxing Day hunts – a practice he deemed “cruel and outdated”.

Northern Ireland is the only part of the United Kingdom which doesn’t have a ban on hunting wild animals with dogs.

A previous attempt by Mr Blair to ban the practice in the Assembly failed in 2021 after failing to gain support from Sinn Fein and most of the DUP.

Mr Blair said: “we remain the only part of the UK without such a ban. It’s extremely disappointing that the Stormont impasse has allowed this important issue to go unchecked.

“Which is exactly why we need to see Stormont up and running. In 2023 watching animals being ripped apart should not be a sporting calendar event. I fully intend to re-table my Private Members’ Bill to outlaw the practice at the earliest given opportunity.

“The Alliance Party wants to see the elimination of all cruelty towards animals and part of that is the banning of hunting wild mammals with dogs”.

But Edwin Poots said: “The last private members bill would have had the potential to criminalise thousands of innocent dog owners. These issues are better considered and brought forward by departmental legislators, after appropriate public consultation, to reduce the potential for unintended consequences”.

An SDLP spokesperson told the News Letter: "The SDLP has long supported a ban on fox hunting and hunting with animals and voted in favour of it in the last Assembly. That opportunity was missed due to votes against the ban from Sinn Féin, some DUP MLAs and others. It is nearly two decades since this cruel practice was banned in Britain and a ban to protect animals is long overdue here."

In the 2021 vote concerns were raised by both the DUP and Sinn Fein about how workable the legislation was – with arguments it would be better dealt with by a government department.