Sinn Féin is getting some flack from parties of the left for its stance the party's TDs took on the motion proposing a ban on fox hunting.
It’s a very emotive issue for many and we can expect the campaign in favour of a fox-hunting ban to ratchet up as the bill, proposed by People Before Profit TD Ruth Coppinger, works its way through our parliamentary system.
The first reading of the bill, which would make fox hunting an illegal and criminal activity, took place this week. In most cases, a bill introduced by an opposition TD is allowed through the first stage without contest. The real debate comes at the second reading stage.
However, in this instance, there was a vote, called for by Danny Healy-Rae. Danny, of course, is now part of the Government mathematics, if not the fabric of government.
Danny said that foxes have “taken over the place”, citing lost chickens and lambs. Inevitably, he made it about fox numbers and fox activity in south Kerry, but such tales could be told of any part of the country.
Questions
Of course, there are two separate questions here. One is whether fox numbers are being controlled; the other is whether fox hunting is appropriate. The local hunt passes through here, but I don’t think they’ve ever caught a fox in all my time.
In any event, the vote took place. The Government parties supported the proposal, with all Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael members voting in favour.
Danny Healy-Rae was joined in opposing the bill by fellow Government-supporting independent TD Michael Lowry, but Sean Canney, Marian Harkin, Noel Grealish, Kevin Boxer Moran, Barry Heneghan and Gillian Toole all voted in favour of the bill.
The only member of the nine-strong (Verona Murphy now being Ceann Comhairle) independent group supporting the government who was absent for the vote was Michael Healy-Rae.
I would imagine that he was happy enough not to have to choose between voting against his brother or voting against all his ministerial colleagues.
Apart from Danny Healy-Rae and Lowry, the other TDs opposing the Coppinger bill - and presumably supporting the continuation of fox hunting - were the two Aontú TDs, the four Independent Ireland TDs, Carol Nolan, Mattie McGrath, Brian Stanley, plus the entire Sinn Féin Dáil representation. The Sinn Féin vote is the most significant in numerical terms and also in terms of the political dynamic.
Demographics
I allow the local hunt on to my farm and make no apologies for doing so. I like seeing the hunt make its way around the countryside.
I’ve never had a horse myself, but the days when being a member of a hunt was an elitist pursuit are long gone - and every section of the community was represented when the hunt came round last Christmas. There was also a wide age demographic, from schoolkids to pensioners.
To my knowledge, there has never been a fox caught on our lands. As I understand it, if a fox was run to ground, the master of the hunt would have to ask my permission before digging a fox out. I don’t think I would give that permission.
Yes, there is cruelty in a fox being chased by people on horseback and a pack of hounds, but there is cruelty in much of nature.
Foxes hunt rabbits, hares, squirrels and hedgehogs. Dogs hunt foxes. Foxes will also take chickens and lambs - I can agree with Danny Healy-Rae on that one.
The reality is that foxes have no predators in nature in Ireland. There are those who would ban hunting of foxes and who also would introduce wolves as apex predators.
Positions
Sinn Féin’s position - in favour of the continuation of fox hunting - will surprise many. Hunting is often regarded as an 'establishment' practice, practiced by 'west Brits'.
Indeed, the Sinn Féin Ard Fheis in 2023 had a motion from Kildare calling for hunting to be banned as “a barbaric remnant of an alien aristocracy”.
However, the Ard Comhairle put forward a motion, which was carried by the floor, acknowledging the existence of “traditional rural occupations”, including not just hunting, but hare coursing, which is far more contentious - and calling for their regulation rather than their banning.
But their decision to actually vote against the legislative proposal on the first reading surprised many. Social Democrats acting leader Cian O'Callaghan described it as "deeply troubling". Simple right-left descriptions no longer comfortably fit most political parties.
Hares
I have little sympathy for hare coursing. Hares are always prey, never predators. While their numbers are stable, according to the National Wildlife and Parks Service (NPWS), I see far fewer hares than foxes around the place. I would never want to see a hair on their head touched.
The Coppinger bill doesn’t just seek to outlaw hunting of foxes. Snares and traps would also be outlawed. Trail or drag hunting would also be prohibited - quite why I do not know.
I presume the Government will allow a free vote on this matter next time out and most rural Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael TDs will oppose it, but I’ve been wrong before.
Land will always cause strife
Every Friday evening, TG4 show a western. Some are classics, such as El Dorado, which was screened on Friday 30 May. Others are obscure. The constant in Westerns is the hunt for land.
Cowboys and ranchers fighting over grazing rights, towns fighting railroad magnates or, most frequently, settlers and the US Army fighting Native Americans.
The fate of Native Americans, right to this day, is rightly uncomfortable for many. There are obvious echoes of the conquest of North America by European settlers in parts of the world right now, particularly in Gaza.
In Ireland, property ownership is seen as the right of all. We have an extremely low proportion of tenant farming and of leased land by European norms. Similarly, the Irish have a higher proportion of homeowners than most international countries.
Even prior to gaining political independence, Ireland had made huge strides towards dismantling the giant estates that emerged in medieval times, largely through plantation. The Land Commission has long been disbanded and there is really no land policy to speak of at present - and hasn’t been for decades.
On Wednesday, Danny Healy-Rae raised the issue of public procurement of land at the first public meeting of the Oireachtas joint committee.
He put the following question to Minister for Agriculture Martin Heydon: “Are you going to continue the practice of buying farms against young farmers? In Kerry you bought three of them last year, against local farmers. You gave €440,000 for a farm in Kilgarvan that was only worth a small bit more than €200,000.”
“Who bought it?” Heydon asked back. “The National Parks [and Wildlife Service] - the government!” responded Danny. “You have the wrong minister here for National Parks,” Heydon said.
Healy Rae’s point was that farmers won’t be able to compete with Government for poorer-quality land; their pockets just aren’t deep enough.
In fairness, we only have a tiny proportion of land in public ownership compared to most countries. It’s also probably true that many farmers with designations and restrictions would be tempted by an offer to buy their land, certainly some of it, at twice the going rate.
In Tipperary, the NPWS isn't the one setting the price of land. That has long been Coolmore and John Magnier. Once, if college myths are to be believed, it was the Cistercians.
I attended Rockwell Agricultural College back in 1983/84. About 110 of us gained our certificate in farming over the course of an academic year (subject to a later placement and a final management course). We did a fair bit of the donkey work on the farm.
The students in the catering college on-site prepared the food. The secondary students, many of them boarders, ate the food along with the rest of us, and we were all paying to be there.
It was a very successful micro-economy and the story was that the college was buying land at such a rate that a deputation had gone to the local bishop to request Rockwell to refrain from further purchases. It was probably nonsense.
There’s nothing nonsensical about the Coolmore operation. World leaders, Coolmore is a sporting empire to match the New York Yankees or Real Madrid. And John Magnier commands respect across the planet.
John Magnier arriving at the High Court, Co Dublin.\ Tom Honan
It’s no wonder we are all so tuned into the current High Court action initiated by Magnier to try to enforce a deal for the 750-acre Barne Estate.
While the owners of the Barne Estate are the defendants in the case, it is also part of a wider power struggle between Magnier and fellow billionaire Maurice Regan.
Both men have been buying huge tracts of land by Irish standards and paying big money for them. Magnier actually stated in court this week that he doesn’t know how much land he owns.
For family farmers, the main concern will be that this very public land dispute doesn’t impact on the tax regime currently in place for the transfer of agricultural land from generation to generation.
The commission on taxation and welfare is constantly evaluating the value, fairness and efficacy of land prices.
The main advocate for family farms on the commission is probably Rowena Dwyer. Currently the manager of policy, planning and government relations with Enterprise Ireland, Dwyer was formerly the chief economist of the Irish Farmers' Association.
She would be acutely aware of the necessity for agricultural relief in its current form to prevent crippling young farmers with debt disproportionate to their income.
As a Tipperary woman, she is surely closely watching the Magnier/Barne Estate court case with fascination and a little apprehension as to the optics for how farmland is viewed by Revenue.
Actually, as the daughter of a man who was one of my lecturers in ag college, Willie O’Dwyer, she might be able to confirm whether the story about Rockwell being the Magnier of their day had substance.
It really is a small country. Which is probably why every acre is cherished and coveted, from the wild hills of south Kerry to the rolling pastureland of Tipperary.
Sinn Féin is getting some flack from parties of the left for its stance the party's TDs took on the motion proposing a ban on fox hunting.
It’s a very emotive issue for many and we can expect the campaign in favour of a fox-hunting ban to ratchet up as the bill, proposed by People Before Profit TD Ruth Coppinger, works its way through our parliamentary system.
The first reading of the bill, which would make fox hunting an illegal and criminal activity, took place this week. In most cases, a bill introduced by an opposition TD is allowed through the first stage without contest. The real debate comes at the second reading stage.
However, in this instance, there was a vote, called for by Danny Healy-Rae. Danny, of course, is now part of the Government mathematics, if not the fabric of government.
Danny said that foxes have “taken over the place”, citing lost chickens and lambs. Inevitably, he made it about fox numbers and fox activity in south Kerry, but such tales could be told of any part of the country.
Questions
Of course, there are two separate questions here. One is whether fox numbers are being controlled; the other is whether fox hunting is appropriate. The local hunt passes through here, but I don’t think they’ve ever caught a fox in all my time.
In any event, the vote took place. The Government parties supported the proposal, with all Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael members voting in favour.
Danny Healy-Rae was joined in opposing the bill by fellow Government-supporting independent TD Michael Lowry, but Sean Canney, Marian Harkin, Noel Grealish, Kevin Boxer Moran, Barry Heneghan and Gillian Toole all voted in favour of the bill.
The only member of the nine-strong (Verona Murphy now being Ceann Comhairle) independent group supporting the government who was absent for the vote was Michael Healy-Rae.
I would imagine that he was happy enough not to have to choose between voting against his brother or voting against all his ministerial colleagues.
Apart from Danny Healy-Rae and Lowry, the other TDs opposing the Coppinger bill - and presumably supporting the continuation of fox hunting - were the two Aontú TDs, the four Independent Ireland TDs, Carol Nolan, Mattie McGrath, Brian Stanley, plus the entire Sinn Féin Dáil representation. The Sinn Féin vote is the most significant in numerical terms and also in terms of the political dynamic.
Demographics
I allow the local hunt on to my farm and make no apologies for doing so. I like seeing the hunt make its way around the countryside.
I’ve never had a horse myself, but the days when being a member of a hunt was an elitist pursuit are long gone - and every section of the community was represented when the hunt came round last Christmas. There was also a wide age demographic, from schoolkids to pensioners.
To my knowledge, there has never been a fox caught on our lands. As I understand it, if a fox was run to ground, the master of the hunt would have to ask my permission before digging a fox out. I don’t think I would give that permission.
Yes, there is cruelty in a fox being chased by people on horseback and a pack of hounds, but there is cruelty in much of nature.
Foxes hunt rabbits, hares, squirrels and hedgehogs. Dogs hunt foxes. Foxes will also take chickens and lambs - I can agree with Danny Healy-Rae on that one.
The reality is that foxes have no predators in nature in Ireland. There are those who would ban hunting of foxes and who also would introduce wolves as apex predators.
Positions
Sinn Féin’s position - in favour of the continuation of fox hunting - will surprise many. Hunting is often regarded as an 'establishment' practice, practiced by 'west Brits'.
Indeed, the Sinn Féin Ard Fheis in 2023 had a motion from Kildare calling for hunting to be banned as “a barbaric remnant of an alien aristocracy”.
However, the Ard Comhairle put forward a motion, which was carried by the floor, acknowledging the existence of “traditional rural occupations”, including not just hunting, but hare coursing, which is far more contentious - and calling for their regulation rather than their banning.
But their decision to actually vote against the legislative proposal on the first reading surprised many. Social Democrats acting leader Cian O'Callaghan described it as "deeply troubling". Simple right-left descriptions no longer comfortably fit most political parties.
Hares
I have little sympathy for hare coursing. Hares are always prey, never predators. While their numbers are stable, according to the National Wildlife and Parks Service (NPWS), I see far fewer hares than foxes around the place. I would never want to see a hair on their head touched.
The Coppinger bill doesn’t just seek to outlaw hunting of foxes. Snares and traps would also be outlawed. Trail or drag hunting would also be prohibited - quite why I do not know.
I presume the Government will allow a free vote on this matter next time out and most rural Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael TDs will oppose it, but I’ve been wrong before.
Land will always cause strife
Every Friday evening, TG4 show a western. Some are classics, such as El Dorado, which was screened on Friday 30 May. Others are obscure. The constant in Westerns is the hunt for land.
Cowboys and ranchers fighting over grazing rights, towns fighting railroad magnates or, most frequently, settlers and the US Army fighting Native Americans.
The fate of Native Americans, right to this day, is rightly uncomfortable for many. There are obvious echoes of the conquest of North America by European settlers in parts of the world right now, particularly in Gaza.
In Ireland, property ownership is seen as the right of all. We have an extremely low proportion of tenant farming and of leased land by European norms. Similarly, the Irish have a higher proportion of homeowners than most international countries.
Even prior to gaining political independence, Ireland had made huge strides towards dismantling the giant estates that emerged in medieval times, largely through plantation. The Land Commission has long been disbanded and there is really no land policy to speak of at present - and hasn’t been for decades.
On Wednesday, Danny Healy-Rae raised the issue of public procurement of land at the first public meeting of the Oireachtas joint committee.
He put the following question to Minister for Agriculture Martin Heydon: “Are you going to continue the practice of buying farms against young farmers? In Kerry you bought three of them last year, against local farmers. You gave €440,000 for a farm in Kilgarvan that was only worth a small bit more than €200,000.”
“Who bought it?” Heydon asked back. “The National Parks [and Wildlife Service] - the government!” responded Danny. “You have the wrong minister here for National Parks,” Heydon said.
Healy Rae’s point was that farmers won’t be able to compete with Government for poorer-quality land; their pockets just aren’t deep enough.
In fairness, we only have a tiny proportion of land in public ownership compared to most countries. It’s also probably true that many farmers with designations and restrictions would be tempted by an offer to buy their land, certainly some of it, at twice the going rate.
In Tipperary, the NPWS isn't the one setting the price of land. That has long been Coolmore and John Magnier. Once, if college myths are to be believed, it was the Cistercians.
I attended Rockwell Agricultural College back in 1983/84. About 110 of us gained our certificate in farming over the course of an academic year (subject to a later placement and a final management course). We did a fair bit of the donkey work on the farm.
The students in the catering college on-site prepared the food. The secondary students, many of them boarders, ate the food along with the rest of us, and we were all paying to be there.
It was a very successful micro-economy and the story was that the college was buying land at such a rate that a deputation had gone to the local bishop to request Rockwell to refrain from further purchases. It was probably nonsense.
There’s nothing nonsensical about the Coolmore operation. World leaders, Coolmore is a sporting empire to match the New York Yankees or Real Madrid. And John Magnier commands respect across the planet.
John Magnier arriving at the High Court, Co Dublin.\ Tom Honan
It’s no wonder we are all so tuned into the current High Court action initiated by Magnier to try to enforce a deal for the 750-acre Barne Estate.
While the owners of the Barne Estate are the defendants in the case, it is also part of a wider power struggle between Magnier and fellow billionaire Maurice Regan.
Both men have been buying huge tracts of land by Irish standards and paying big money for them. Magnier actually stated in court this week that he doesn’t know how much land he owns.
For family farmers, the main concern will be that this very public land dispute doesn’t impact on the tax regime currently in place for the transfer of agricultural land from generation to generation.
The commission on taxation and welfare is constantly evaluating the value, fairness and efficacy of land prices.
The main advocate for family farms on the commission is probably Rowena Dwyer. Currently the manager of policy, planning and government relations with Enterprise Ireland, Dwyer was formerly the chief economist of the Irish Farmers' Association.
She would be acutely aware of the necessity for agricultural relief in its current form to prevent crippling young farmers with debt disproportionate to their income.
As a Tipperary woman, she is surely closely watching the Magnier/Barne Estate court case with fascination and a little apprehension as to the optics for how farmland is viewed by Revenue.
Actually, as the daughter of a man who was one of my lecturers in ag college, Willie O’Dwyer, she might be able to confirm whether the story about Rockwell being the Magnier of their day had substance.
It really is a small country. Which is probably why every acre is cherished and coveted, from the wild hills of south Kerry to the rolling pastureland of Tipperary.
SHARING OPTIONS