17/11/2024
Please feel free to question your election candidates on their level of support for animal welfare!
Political Parties and Animal Cruelty Issues
Find out where political parties stand on animal cruelty issues.
Find out the views of General Election candidates at
https://banbloodsports.wordpress.com/2024/10/22/ge24/
Fine Gael
Fianna Fail
Sinn Fein
Party For Animal Welfare
Green Party
Solidarity-people Before Profit
Social Democrats
Labour Party
Independents 4 Change
Aontu
The Socialist Party
FINE GAEL
Fine Gael is not in favour of a ban on cruel bloodsports. The party has voted against proposed bans on fox hunting, hare coursing, digging out, terrierwork, ferreting and badger culling. Fine Gael supports massive state grants to horse and greyhound racing – more than €1.46 Billion since 2001, including €99.1 million for 2025.
Three months after RTE Investigates exposed the shocking cruelty and killing in greyhound racing, then party leader and Taoiseach Leo Varadkar declared in Dail Eireann that he goes to Shelbourne Park greyhound stadium and “I intend to go again”. Fine Gael’s Josepha Madigan continued licensing hare coursing, despite a deadly, highly-contagious RHD2 virus threatening the future of the Irish Hare species. Outgoing Fine Gael TD Simon Coveney admitted participating in fox hunting. During a Dail debate in 2015, during which he defended the cruel activity, he revealed: “I have hunted”. He included an exemption for hare coursing and fox hunting in the Animal Health and Welfare Act which gives hunters and coursers immunity from prosecution for what would otherwise be offences of animal cruelty.
Fine Gael’s current leader, Simon Harris, is the only TD in his Wicklow constituency who has not expressed support for a ban on hare coursing. In 2016, Deputy Harris voted against a ban on hare coursing.
FIANNA FAIL
Fianna Fail is not in favour of a ban on cruel bloodsports. The party has voted against proposed bans on fox hunting, hare coursing, digging out, terrierwork, ferreting and badger culling. Fianna Fail supports massive state grants to horse and greyhound racing – more than €1.46 Billion since 2001, including €99.1 million for 2025.
In 2004, the current Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin stated that he does not think fox hunting should be banned in Ireland. Responding to a question on RTE’s Questions and Answers, Deputy Martin said: “Fox hunting has been a part of Irish rural life for quite a long time, since well before the foundation of the state. I’m not sure banning a sport like that is the way to deal with issues like this.”
Deputy Martin voted against a proposed ban on cruel hare coursing.
SINN FEIN
Sinn Fein is not currently in favour of a ban on hare coursing. The party was previously opposed to coursing but reversed this policy. Sinn Fein voted against a proposed ban on coursing in 2016. Ard Fheis motions calling for the party to support a ban on coursing have been rejected. In 2018, a motion was passed reaffirming the party’s OPPOSITION to “an outright ban” on coursing.
At the 2023 Sinn Fein Ard Fheis, a motion calling for regulation of bloodsports – instead of a long overdue ban – was shamefully passed. This meant that delegates were denied the opportunity to vote on other motions calling for a ban on fox hunting and hare coursing.
Despite a 2020 statement from Sinn Fein president Mary Lou McDonald TD that “Sinn Fein is opposed to fox hunting” and would “vote in favour of a ban at the next opportunity”, the party’s MLAs voted AGAINST a proposed ban on hunting with hounds in the Northern Ireland Assembly in December 2021. In 2022, at meetings of Belfast City Council and Derry City and Strabane District Council, Sinn Fein Councillors also voted against motions calling for a ban on the hunting of wild mammals with dogs.
Sinn Fein is not in favour of a ban on greyhound racing. In recent years, it has voted in favour of the massive state grants that are keeping greyhound racing afloat.
PARTY FOR ANIMAL WELFARE
The Party for Animal Welfare is working to end blood sports (including fox hunting and hare coursing), puppy farming, factory farming, live exports, animal testing and horse and greyhound racing. Find out more about the party’s policies at https://www.ipaw.ie/policies
GREEN PARTY
The Green Party’s animal welfare policy pledges to “bring in legislation to end hare coursing, fox hunting, hare hunting and mink hunting” but in government with Fianna Fail and Fine Gael, it has failed to achieve this. The party’s former deputy leader Catherine Martin has said that, with a heavy heart, she – and presumably her party colleagues – would have to vote against upcoming bills seeking to ban hare coursing if the Green Party’s coalition partners Fianna Fail and Fine Gael did so. She had previously assured the Irish Council Against Blood Sports that “the Green Party supports a ban on hare coursing – the Green Party has always been opposed to all blood sports and remains resolutely so.” In a June 2016 Dail speech, Deputy Martin condemned coursing as “a brutal ordeal”, stating: “Not only are these timid and delicate creatures terrified and brutalised in this practice, they often suffer severe injuries and death. The hare is a brittle-boned creature and its internal injuries cannot heal. Injured hares have to be put down.”
An Open Season amendment signed into law in 2024 by Green Party “Nature Minister” Malcolm Noonan allowed for the continuation of cruel hare coursing and extended the national deer shooting season by 3 months. Minister Noonan refused to remove all amber- and red-list birds from the Open Seasons Order which allows recreational shooters to blast them out of the sky for fun. Minister Noonan’s Department has continued to license cruel hare coursing, despite ongoing injuries and deaths and majority support for a ban on the bloodsport.
The Green Party’s animal welfare policy also pledged to “cease the use of state funding for greyhound racing”. However, in government, the party has voted in favour of over €74 MILLION in government grants to greyhound racing (plus over €298 million for horse racing).
In 2024, Green Party Minister Catherine Martin granted funding to pony clubs attached to fox hunts and to a body which shamefully categorises hunting as an “equine discipline”.
The Green Party’s 2024 manifesto pledges include: “End fox hunting during the term of Government. Implement a ban on hare coursing. End badger culling and support alternative measures to minimise the spread of tuberculosis, including improved testing and better hygiene on farms. Establish a funding programme for the wildlife rehabilitation sector to support those who help sick and injured wild animals, and develop codes of conduct for practitioners to ensure best practice. Ban all non-medical animal experimentation. Following further revelations of cruelty, decouple funding for the horse and greyhound industries and phase out public funding for the greyhound sector by 2030. We will ensure fair compensation and retraining opportunities for affected workers. Establish a dedicated animal welfare unit within An Garda Síochána.”
Read more at:https://www.greenparty.ie/sites/default/files/2024-11/Manifesto%20GE%202024.pdf =52
SOLIDARITY-PEOPLE BEFORE PROFIT
Solidarity-People Before Profit are in favour of a ban on fox hunting and hare coursing. Solidarity-People Before Profit TDs have voted in favour of a proposed ban on hare coursing. They are opposed to state funding of horse and greyhound racing and have voted against it.
Solidarity-People Before Profit TDs Ruth Coppinger (Dublin West), Mick Barry (Cork North Central) and Paul Murphy (Dublin South West) were instrumental in achieving a ban on fur farming in Ireland and the party was also behind the Bill that led to a ban on wild animals in circuses.
In 2020, Solidarity-People Before Profit TDs Paul Murphy, Bríd Smith, Gino Kenny, Richard Boyd Barrett and Mick Barry – along with TDs Joan Collins and Catherine Connolly – introduced the Animal Health and Welfare (Ban on Hare Coursing) Bill 2020 which aimed to ban hare coursing in Ireland. https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/bills/bill/2020/26/
In September 2024, Paul Murphy TD introduced the Animal Sentience Bill 2024 which, if passed, would “establish a legal definition of sentient animals for the first time under Irish law [and] make it a requirement for government policies to be considered in terms of their impact on sentient animals”. https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/debate/dail/2024-09-26/31/
In 2024, Solidarity-People Before Profit TDs Paul Murphy, Bríd Smith, Gino Kenny, Richard Boyd Barrett and Mick Barry introduced the Animal Health and Welfare (Prohibition of Animal Testing for Botox) (Amendment) Bill 2024 which aimed to prohibit animal testing for botox.
Solidarity-People Before Profit TDs have attended protests against cruel hare coursing and greyhound racing.
People Before Profit’s animal welfare policies include: Ban all blood ‘sports’ including hare coursing and fox hunting, end the badger cull, increase financial support for animal welfare charities, withdraw public funding for greyhound racing and horse racing, Ban the import of any animal-based product that resulted in animal suffering e.g. fur (farmed or wild trapped), clothing which is made from or contains hair, fur or feathers taken from live animals (e.g. Canada Goose clothing), foie gras, etc https://www.pbp.ie/policies/animal-welfare-policy/
SOCIAL DEMOCRATS
The Social Democrats are in favour of a ban on bloodsports. In 2016, the party voted in favour of Deputy Maureen O’Sullivan’s bill which sought to ban hare coursing.
The party’s animal welfare policies state: “We will continue to support the banning of the use of live hares in hare coursing [and] we will maintain our position against fox hunting.”
In May 2023, Social Democrats TD Jennifer Whitmore introduced her “Protection of Hares Bill 2023” which aimed to ban cruel hare coursing in Ireland. “I find it absolutely bizarre, frustrating and unbelievable that this practice is still allowed and is still facilitated by government when the majority of other countries have banned it because they recognise how awful and unacceptable it is,” Deputy Whitmore stated. “No civilised society should ever treat another animal in this way.”
Deputy Whitmore has called for a wildlife crime unit to be established within An Garda Síochána.
The Social Democrats are opposed to state funding to horse and greyhound racing and have voted against it. Party leader Holly Cairns TD has consistently spoken out against funding to greyhound racing and called for it to be phased out.
The party voted in favour of proposed legislation amendments which aimed to ban hare coursing, fox hunting, terrierwork, digging-out and ferreting. They also pushed for a ban on fur farming.
The Social Democrats’ animal welfare policy states: “We support a phasing out of the state funding to the greyhound racing industry…We are in favour of harsher penalties for animal cruelty and would improve resources to boost enforcement of animal welfare laws. Increase the number of Animal Welfare Officers to ensure legislation is adhered to…We will continue to support the banning of the use of live hares in hare coursing and prohibition of wild animals in circuses. We will maintain our position against fox hunting and fur farming. We favour the banning of live exports of animals to countries that have poor animal welfare protections, and the raising and enforcement of standards in relation to long journeys and animal transport vessels. We will improve animal welfare standards as they apply to farming practices in Ireland, including pigs, sheep, cattle and chickens. We would ban all experiments on animals that are not related to genuine medical research.” Read the full policy at https://www.socialdemocrats.ie/our-policies/animal-welfare/
LABOUR PARTY
Party leader Ivana Bacik has stated: “I have a strong track record on animal rights issues and I am a long-standing opponent of hare coursing”
In the past, the Labour Party has voted against proposed bans on fox hunting, hare coursing, digging out, terrierwork, ferreting and badger culling.
In relation to government funding of horse and greyhound racing, some Labour Party TDs have voted against the funding, while others have voted in favour. In October 2024, Labour Party TDs Ivana Bacik, Brendan Howlin and Duncan Smith voted against a €99.1 million government grant to horse and greyhound racing, while Alan Kelly and Sean Sherlock voted in favour.
INDEPENDENTS 4 CHANGE
Independents 4 Change TDs have voted in favour of proposed bans on hare coursing and fox hunting. They have voted against state grants to horse and greyhound racing and have been a strong voice in the Dail in calling for an end to bloodsports. Independents 4 Change TD Joan Collins co-sponsored the Animal Health and Welfare (Ban on Hare Coursing) Bill 2020 which aimed to ban hare coursing in Ireland.
AONTU
In June 2016, Aontú party leader Peadar Tóibín voted AGAINST a proposed ban on hare coursing.
In 2023 and 2024, he voted in favour of the Horse and Greyhound Racing Fund Regulations which granted €95 million / €99.1 million of taxpayers’ money to horse and greyhound racing.
Speaking in the Dail in 2018, he noted that “massive damage has been done over the past 40 years to Irish wildlife”. “We know that modern society is particularly bad when it comes to diversity and its impact on nature,” he stated. “We currently see billions of tonnes of plastic in either landfill or in the sea, killing diversity there. We know that as a society, we are doing massive damage to the climate at present. We know this damages us because we have a symbiotic relationship with nature, the natural world is vital for human well-being and biodiversity is an urgent issue.”
THE SOCIALIST PARTY
The Socialist Party is in favour of a ban on bloodsports.
The Socialist Party states on its website: “The establishment parties have a bloody record on many issues of animal welfare that cannot be forgotten. All main parties including Sinn Féin voted against a bill that sought to ban hare coursing - a ‘sport’ where hares are mauled and terrorised for entertainment and bets. The Irish government proudly stands over hare coursing [and] abuses within the greyhound industry...We must continue the struggle against hare coursing...and the proudly government-funded greyhound industry that is responsible for sending dogs to die in countries with no animal welfare laws. Ultimately we must accept that the predominant reason animals are abused is because of the capitalist drive for profit. We cannot achieve full equality and liberation for animals under the current system, any more than we can for humans. We need to fight for a socialist society in order to achieve the justice our animals deserve.”
