“Ah go on, ban hare coursing’ says Mrs Doyle actress

DUBLIN SOUTH West Rise TD Paul Murphy has teamed up with animal rights groups to launch a bill to ban hare coursing.

Speaking at the Dáil yesterday, Deputy Murphy called on all parties to support the legislation that would see anyone who participates in coursing fined €1,000, while they would also face up to six months in prison.

“It’s beyond time for Ireland to ban hare coursing,” he said.

“We’re one of only three countries in the EU that hasn’t moved to ban it,” he said, stating that it is even banned in Northern Ireland and the UK.

“Hare coursing is a really cruel and barbaric practice.

“Every year, over 5,000 hares are captured in the wild, they are held in captivity, in very close confinement to each other when they’re solitary creatures.

“They’re trained in which way to run and then they’re coursed.

Similar bills to ban coursing, which involves hares being chased by greyhounds, were introduced in the 1990s and in 2016.

Deputy Murphy was joined yesterday by Pauline McLynn, the iconic actress who played Mrs. Doyle in Father Ted, to launch the bill.

The Animal Health and Welfare (Ban on Hare Coursing) Bill 2020 passed first stage in the Dail yesterday and will now pass to second stage debate.

Animal rights groups will be campaigning over the coming months to encourage all parties and independents to back the bill.

“Hare coursing is a shockingly barbarous and cruel activity and should be banned immediately,” Pauline McLynn said.

“Any public representative that continues to support it is not fit to govern.”