Dear Editor,

We are shocked and disgusted at the thuggish ejection of two leading animal welfare campaigners from the so-called national coursing meeting, held over the weekend at Powerstown Park, Clonmel.

Two leading members of the Irish Council Against Blood Sports (ICABS) attended the event with the aim of video recording the so-called ‘sport’ and gathering further evidence of animal cruelty of the kind witnessed at previous coursing fixtures such as dogs mauling the hares, striking them with great force, or pummelling or pinning the animals to the ground.

While filming, the two women were approached by men purporting to be stewards who ordered them to put away the camcorder. When they objected, the men asked them to leave the hare coursing venue. When they further questioned this, they were manhandled and literally dragged from the grounds by the men.

This incident exposes as a complete sham the repeated claim by the Irish Coursing Club that everyone is welcome at coursing events and that hare coursing has ‘nothing to hide’.

The treatment meted out to the ICABS members at the national coursing meeting is reminiscent of what one might expect in North Korea, not in a supposedly democratic society.

Campaigners against the vile “sport” of hare coursing will not be deterred by such bullying tactics. The campaign will continue until Ireland follows Britain, Northern Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, and most of mainland Europe in banning this practise whose very survival depends on a well organised cover-up, as clearly demonstrated yet again at the Clonmel event.

Thanking you,

John Fitzgerald,

PRO, Campaign for the Abolition of Cruel Sports

Lower Coyne Street,

Callan,

Co Kilkenny.