Countryside Alliance Ireland - love the countryside

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.

Each current holder of a firearm certificate will receive a PRE POPULATED version of this form in the post approx 3 months before their current certificate expires. All of their details, including the firearm, referees, G.P, land etc will be detailed on the form. As you can see, corresponding boxes are included to facilitate any changes for example in referees, doctor etc.

The firearm owner can fill in the changes, if any, and when the form is signed it shall then be returned to the local Station for forwarding to the relevant Superintendent (or Chief Superintendent if a restricted firearm application). If there are no changes, the applicant simply signs the renewal form and brings the FCR form to his/her Garda Station for processing by An Garda Síochána.  

When signed off and granted by the Superintendent, then as before, the applicant receives a Grant Notice Letter in the post and when paid will receive his new 3 year certificate.

The current fee structure will not change for the renewals of firearm certificates. It is understood that the hunting endorsement issue is being addressed by the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht.Please note that only the PRE POPULATED FCR form will be acceptable to An Garda Síochána and that all amendments are correct prior to returning the FCR to the Garda Station.

Finally, the FCR is only used for renewals of firearm certificates. Any new application or substitution for a firearm certificate shall continue to be made on the recently amended FCA1 application form.

The National Countrysports Fair is joined this year by two other major events at Moira under the umbrella name of The Northern Ireland Countryside Festival. 

The two-day festival will take place once again in Moira Demesne on Saturday 26th and Sunday 27th May, 2012. Families will enjoy all the fun of the fair as this year three great events - the National Countrysports Fair, the Tea on the Titanic Music Festival and the Finn McCool Strongman Festival - have been rolled into one.

The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine today confirmed that it has lifted the restrictions in the 1km zone which had been imposed following the single outbreak of (low pathogenic avian influenza) LPAI H5N2 in pheasants in a premises in Clonakilty in Co Cork. 

Samples from the one commercial poultry holding within the 1km zone taken during the 21 day period since the restriction zone was put in place, have been negative for any virus and as there have been no new outbreaks of LPAI H5N2 in the restriction zone, all restrictions have been lifted with immediate effect.  

The Department said the incident, notwithstanding the good outcome, was a reminder of the continued need for vigilance and good bio-security practices where poultry or other captive birds are concerned. Bio-security advice is available on the Department’s website

The UK’s shooting organisations have come together to respond to a threat to the continued use of lead shot in the European Union.  

The European Chemicals Agency (ECHA), the EU’s regulatory authority on chemicals, has commissioned a study on the use of lead shot which it says could be used to evaluate the costs and benefits of restrictions on the use of lead shot for hunting across the EU. 

Lead shot is widely used for shooting in the UK but is prohibited for use over wetlands in Scotland and Northern Ireland. In England and Wales lead shot is prohibited for the shooting of wildfowl and may not be used on the foreshore and certain designated wetland sites. 

The ECHA has asked for data on the manufacture, cost and use of lead shot and its alternatives. Europe-wide responses will be collated by the European umbrella organisation FACE, the Federation of European Hunting Associations, which represents some seven million hunters, in conjunction with international representative bodies for trade and target shooting.

The Northern Ireland Environment Agency (NIEA) is hosting Catchment Stakeholder Group meetings in April and May.  These meetings give everyone with an interest in local water quality an opportunity to have their issues discussed and addressed.                                            

The meetings are attended by a wide range of stakeholders including, conservation organisations, community associations, angling groups, local landowners and representatives from Government Departments, who all seek to work together to address local water management issues.  

The meetings provide a forum to; discuss key local water management issues, influence decisions and assist in the implementation of solutions. They also allow wide participation in the development of River Basin Management Plans and the implementation of the EU Water Framework Directive. 

For more information on the dates and locations of these meetings click here

Curlew numbers in Ireland have rapidly declined over the past number of years and it has been reported that there may be as few as 200 breeding pairs left throughout the country.  This is in stark contrast to the last Breeding Atlas (1988-1991) where the Irish population was estimated at around 5,000 pairs. 

As a proactive conservation force, the Irish Red Grouse Association (IRGA) is assisting Birdwatch Ireland and calling for all country sports enthusiasts to be vigilant and to report any sightings of curlew to them in order that they may gauge and monitor the populations in each county.  At present the IRGA are focussing mainly on the Monaghan, Cavan and Leitrim areas.   

If you would like to be a part of the survey, please forward any useful information or sightings to Vincent Flannery at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it or contact Vincent on +353 (0) 87 612 2568. 

Further to its previous announcement confirming that laboratory test results found that the Avian Influenza virus confirmed in samples from pheasants in a flock of game birds in Clonakilty last week was a low pathogenic strain of the virus, the Department has now announced that further tests results from other pheasants linked to the same batch found in Barryroe, West Cork have tested negative for Avian Influenza.

Given the fact that these birds were located in the same area as the Clonakilty birds, these results confirm that the virus has not spread. The birds had already been slaughtered as a precautionary measure and the Department confirmed that the 1km temporary restriction zone that had been established pending the outcome of laboratory tests has now been removed.

This means in effect that there are no further restrictions on the movement of poultry, other birds, and their products and other animals on poultry holdings from this area. The Department had earlier confirmed that the temporary restriction zone in Clonakilty has been replaced by a Low Pathogenic Avian Influenza restriction zone of 1km and this will remain in place for at least 21 days after the preliminary cleaning and disinfection of the infected site has been completed.

Although the Department will continue as it has done over the recent past to monitor the situation closely until the current restrictions in Clonakilty have been lifted permanently, the immediate cause for concern in relation to Avian Influenza has now eased

There are still places available for the Casting for Recovery retreat at Brookhall Trout Fishery, near Lisburn, from 27th-29th April 2012.

Ladies who wish to apply should visit the CFR website before the closing date of 19th April. 

This innovative programme, the first of its kind in the UK and Ireland, uses a unique formula of fly fishing and education to promote mental and physical healing to women whose lives have been profoundly affected by breast cancer. It is a quality of life charity.