Countryside Alliance Ireland - love the countryside

The National Association of Sporting Rifle & Pistol Clubs (NASRPC) will hold a National Competition in Harbour House Sports Club on Saturday 26th May 2012. 

There will be many disciplines including benchrest rifle, smallbore and centrefire pistol and rifle, and M1 gallery rifle. 

The entry fee is €10 per discipline or €50 discounted entry for the entire match, both payable on the day.  There is also a 50% discount for pensioners, students and unemployed. All NASRPC competitions are open competitions and registration will be at 10am. 

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Inland Fisheries Ireland, in partnership with Philip Maher of Fishhunt, is hosting an ‘Introduction to Flyfishing Casting’ on Saturday 12^th May 2012. 

The course is for beginners and those who have a basic knowledge but would like to learn more.  Along with Philip, other qualified casting instructors will be present.  Flyfishing rods will be available for use on the day.  

The event will commence at 10am at Mulcahy Park , Clonmel with the kind permission of Clonmel Burough Council.  This event is free and open to both female and male participants of all ages.  

For those not familiar with Clonmel, the venue is located just before St. Patricks Cemetery on the Carrick on Suir Road.

This morning Countryside Alliance Ireland stood before the Environment Committee to give a joint briefing with BASC on the Marine Bill, which was recently introduced into the Northern Ireland Assembly. 

Countryside Alliance Ireland welcomes any measures aimed at benefitting marine life and biodiversity however, the Marine Bill as it currently stands will do little to improve the level of protection afforded to marine life in Northern Ireland, and has the potential to significantly hamper many citizens’ livelihoods and recreation. 

Lyall Plant, Chief Executive of Countryside Alliance Ireland, commented, “Whilst we believe the Marine Bill is theoretically a positive movement for Northern Ireland’s marine life, we are also very concerned about the ambiguity of this Bill.  This obscurity leaves the Bill open to misinterpretation and potential abuse, and provides an opportunity for unsympathetic parties to unnecessarily prohibit legitimate rural pursuits.” 

“We therefore wish to see this Bill significantly revised to ensure that the legislation is both transparent and fair.  This morning was a substantial step in the right direction; we have ensured the Environment Committee is aware of our misgivings and what we recommend to make this piece of legislation just.” 

If this Bill were to reach Royal Assent in its current form, many members may find their livelihoods and recreation severely curtailed unnecessarily.  Countryside Alliance Ireland and BASC  are doing everything in our power to ensure this does not happen, and we were pleased to be invited to give evidence in a joint briefing to the Committee.

Please join over 700 shooters and anglers to vote NO in a web poll against proposals to give protectionists the power to ban shooting and angling in every estuary, river and lake in Northern Ireland. 

There is a web poll running on the NI Marine Task Force website which gives visitors the option to vote in support of its work on the Marine Bill. In light of the threats to country sports identified in the Bill please visit the site and vote NO. This will send an important message not only to the task force but to civil servants and political representatives in NI that a Marine Bill has to consider people's needs as well as those of wildlife. 

The RSPB, Wildlife Trusts and others have reacted to our vote NO campaign by starting a vote YES campaign. We are losing ground. The web poll will only allow one vote from your internet provider's address. Ulster Wildlife Trust is encouraging voters to bypass this and register multiple votes via other computers, mobile phones and other internet accessible devices.