Fresh warning over scope of Stormont's hunting bill - as Alliance MLA challenged on consequences for sports like shooting

The latest salvo from the rural lobby group comes as John Blair’s bill faces further scrutiny at Stormont this week, after passing a key vote before the summer.

Conditional support from Sinn Fein and the Ulster Unionist Party saw the legislation progress to scrutiny stage – but questions about potential unintended consequences persist.

In May, legal opinion commissioned by Countryside Alliance Ireland (CAI) warned that the Alliance MLA’s proposal would effectively outlaw all hunting of wild mammals for food if a dog is used – and leave dog walkers “starkly exposed to criminal liability”.

That was dismissed by Mr Blair during a Stormont debate – but the pro-hunting campaign group says it is one of the issues which he has failed to clarify sufficiently.

In an open letter, CAI warns that the legislation would create an “artificial distinction” between sport and pest control – and has called for its key concerns to be addressed.

In the correspondence, the pro-hunting organisation cited comments by Mr Blair in May’s Assembly debate, rejecting assertions that rough shooters would be criminalised by the law.

“Since 2023, no person hunting with guns has been questioned or charged with an offence under the equivalent legislation in Scotland. Equally, no rough shooter has ever been prosecuted in England, Wales or Scotland”, the Alliance MLA told the chamber.

CAI says that comparison with legislation in other parts of the UK is not valid because the Bill is drafted differently, and “creates offences that are far broader and the Bill fails to exempt activity exempted elsewhere”.

It reiterates legal advice from John Larkin KC, a former Attorney General for Northern Ireland, who had warned that “…the effect of the Bill is to ban all hunting of wild mammals whether for recreation or food if a dog is used, even if the dog is never used to kill the hunted animal.

“While it will still be permitted to shoot birds using a dog, it will not be permitted to shoot deer or rabbits for recreation or for the purposes of eating them or for a combination of both of these purposes... If this Bill is enacted, shooting for the pot is, if a dog is used, rendered unlawful”.

Backers of the legislation have argued that such issues could be addressed by an explanatory memorandum attached to the legislation, explaining its intent. However, Mr Larkin argued that “as an aid to interpretation, the explanatory notes can be considered to have very little, if any, weight or value”.

The CAI’s open letter to Mr Blair raises a series of other issues it says would arise if the legislation was passed. These include an alleged negative impact on terrier work, pest control, dog walking, falconry and drag hunting.

The letter states: “To seek to ban hunting on the basis of an artificial distinction between ‘sport’ and ‘pest control’, a false view of the motivation of those who hunt as being motivated by cruelty and ignoring the evidence on animal welfare is not a sound evidential basis for legislation. It is also important that there is a proper understanding of the actual scope and consequences of the Bill you have introduced based on its actual drafting. The Bill affects far more than a few hunts and would do nothing but harm communities, animals and wildlife”.

MLAs on Stormont’s agriculture committee will continue to hear evidence on the proposed new law, when witnesses appear on Thursday.

John Blair MLA has been contacted for comment.