'Rural Ireland Says Enough' at RISE meeting in Ballinamore
The national Rise Campaign stopped off in Leitrim last Friday night, May 21 when it held an information meeting in the Commercial Hotel, Ballinamore.
The RISE campaign (Rural Ireland Says Enough) attracted a good crowd to the venue made up of local farmers, hunt groups, rural dwellers and county councillors from Leitrim and West Cavan, who were eager to find out what the campaign was about.
Speaker Kevin Quinlan outlined the main points of the campaign before he took questions and comments from the floor. Rise has been formed by the Federation of Association for Hunting and Conversation of the EU and the Hunting Association of Ireland to campaign at national, regional and local level to mobilise public and political opinion in support of Irish traditional field sports and rural pastimes.
Mr Quinlan explained that there are three imminent threats to rural sport: The Dog Breeding Establishments Bill 2009, proposed by the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, currently being debated in the Seanad; the Wildlife (Amendment) Bill, which RISE says includes a ban on stag hunting and is scheduled to be published shortly and the Animal Health and Welfare Bill, being drafted by the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food.
Mr Quinlan was quite adamant about the influence of the Green Party on these new bills and was not afraid to condemn the work of the Green Party and their "attack on rural Ireland."
Although the main issues concerned within these bills include a proposed ban on stag hunting and new regulations concerning hunting dogs, Mr Quinlan was driving home the message that these were only "the thin edge of the wedge," when it comes to the attack on Irish rural sport. Mr Quinlan suggested that all field sports in Ireland could be in jeopardy including coursing, fishing and fox hunting amongst others.
The Rise Campaign asked those who attended to "spread the word" and to sign petitions and confront local and national politicians on the issue.
Cathaoirleach of Leitrim County Council Thomas Mulligan said he had an interest in many field sports and had never seen anything of concern in relation to animal welfare and saw no benefits in banning these activities.
Fine Gael Cllr Peter McVitty and Sinn Fein Cllr Damien Brady from Cavan voiced their support for the campaign. Cllr Martin Kenny said he would propose the motion to support Rise at the next Leitrim County Council meeting.
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Weather for Carrick-on-Shannon, Ireland
Thursday 17 May 2012
Today
Light rain
Temperature: 5 C to 11 C
Wind Speed: 7 mph
Wind direction: South
Tomorrow
Light showers
Temperature: 6 C to 11 C
Wind Speed: 10 mph
Wind direction: North east
