Countryside Alliance Ireland - love the countryside

Leading rural campaigning organisation, Countryside Alliance Ireland, has warmly welcomed the findings of the latest Irish Hare Study undertaken by Queen’s University, Belfast. The study shows that Irish Hares are eighteen times more abundant in areas managed by coursing clubs than similar sites in the wider countryside.

Lyall Plant Chief Executive Countryside Alliance Ireland said, “The Irish Hare is one of our most important indigenous animals and has been subject to a great deal of conservation effort over the past number of years. The coursing and country sports communities have been to the forefront of this conservation work; they have been managing habitats and controlling predators which are widely regarded as the key factors affecting Irish Hare distribution”.  

Lyall Plant continued; “There has been much uninformed comment on this matter, particularly from extreme animal rights organisations who will oppose coursing regardless of any scientific information. However, the facts speak for themselves; the research, published in the peer-reviewed international journal Acta Theriologica, suggests that field sports such as shooting, hunting and hare coursing promote the multifunctional use of farmland in which wildlife provides a resource for non-agricultural activities supporting sustainable development.” 

It is clearly evident from this study that there is an urgent need for partnership between the country sports community and government to ensure that the Irish Hare population increases year on year and this can only be done through collaboration and cooperation with organisations such as Countryside Alliance Ireland.