Countryside Alliance Ireland - love the countryside

The 30th Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the Wild Deer Association of Ireland (WDAI) will be held on Saturday May 14th 2011 at 7.30pm sharp in the Kilcoran Lodge Hotel, Cahir, Co. Tipperary you can contact the hotel on 052 7441288 for accommodation, don’t forget to ask for our preferential rate.

The committee would ask all members to attend, as there are many important issues to discuss. Following the AGM the chefs at Kilcoran Lodge will serve a Venison Banquet, starting at 9.00pm (€25 per person), family members are also welcome.

In conjunction with the AGM the annual Trophy Head competition will be held, categories have been extended this year to now include - Best Fallow – Best Sika – Best Red - Most Unusual - Best Overall. All heads must be presented for judging no later than 7pm, while all heads can be displayed only heads taken in the 2010/11 season can be entered into the competition.

In memory of our former Chairman John Creedon, we will also host the John Creedon Memorial Award for Wildlife Photography sponsored by Countryside Alliance Ireland, winning entries will be included in our 2012 Calendar. Competition rules are available on www.wilddeerireland.com <http://www.wilddeerireland.com/> 

The National annual shows of the Irish Masters of Foxhounds and the Irish Masters of Beagles Association are being held at Stradbally, Co. Laois on Sunday 3^rd July 2011.   

The show classes are divided as follows: doghounds in the morning and bitches in the afternoon. 

The Minister of State, Shane McEntee TD, has issued guidance for foresters and forest owners and has asked all rural dwellers, farmers, landowners and people that use the countryside and forests for recreational purposes, to not light fires in or near woodland. 

If you do detect a fire then please waste no time in calling the emergency services – you could save someone’s life. 

Remarking on the recent spate of forest fires, Shane McEntee TD, Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine with responsibility for forestry stated, “Setting fire to growing vegetation at this time of year is not only an extremely dangerous practice, it is also illegal.  The dry spell of weather currently being experienced in parts of the country, and over recent weeks, has significantly increased the risk of forest fires and the consequential risks to the lives of rural dwellers, their property, and their livelihoods.  

After Countryside Alliance Ireland’s recent distribution of our election manifesto to all NI Assembly candidates, we have received positive feedback from the potential MLAs. 

CAI is extremely grateful for all the political support we have received in recent years and we welcome any new candidates who help protect the future of our rural way of life. 

Cllr Thomas Conway, a SDLP East Derry Assembly candidate, requested we let his constituents know the continued support he is offering to country sports and our rural traditions.   

For the past six years the Devenish Wildfowlers and Conservation Club have been running a conservation project on Lower Lough Erne.  This involves the construction and installation of nesting tunnels for breeding wildfowl. 

Over recent weeks they have installed a further 33 nesting tunnels, each designed to provide wild ducks with a safe nesting and hatching environment during the breeding season.  The tunnels have proved extremely popular with many being used twice in the same season to rear successive broods of young ducklings.

Elections to the Northern Ireland Assembly take place on 5 May 2011. 

Countryside Alliance Ireland has sent all election candidates a copy of our Election Manifesto which outlines our vision for the future of Northern’s Ireland countryside and the part which elected representatives can play. From recent events, all of us involved in country sports know how important it is to ensure our government and representatives are both sympathetic and understanding of the rural way of life. 

We, the general public, control who enters government. It is therefore vital to ensure that we are aware of our local candidates’ views on country sports and rural practises. There are some simple steps that country sports enthusiasts can take to help protect the future of our rural traditions; Ask all candidates to pledge that they support all field sports and that they will vote against legislation that harms or hinders these activities.When contacting candidates, reiterate the vitally important role that field sports play in society and the economic and environmental contribution they make.  

We must ensure that our political representatives are left in no doubt as to the strength of feeling in respect of threats to country sports and rural activities.  Politicians deal in the commodity of numbers, therefore we need to stand united and demonstrate that those who support country sports and rural activities are a much bigger group than those who oppose it.

A new organisation The Irish Association for Game Hunting and Conservation has been established in Ireland. The aim of the association is to promote sustainable game hunting while building links with like minded organisations such as Countryside Alliance Ireland who campaign for the countryside, country sports and the rural way of life.   

The Irish Association for Game Hunting and Conservation website can be found at www.iaghc.ie

A documentary programme filmed last year in Boora on the conservation of grey partridge is scheduled to be screened on RTE 1 at 7.00pm on Tuesday 29th March.  

In 2002 there were only 7 pairs of grey partridge left in Ireland and they were becoming one of the rarest birds in the country.  Changing farm practices and overzealous shooting meant the grey partridge was on the verge of extinction.  The NPWS and the Irish Grey Partridge Conservation Trust decided to do something about this and the result was one of the most successful conservation projects in Europe.  Kieran Buckley is the project manager and he has an eclectic crew helping him with his daily work.   

In this programme Colin goes along to meet the team and follow their work for a breeding season.  Some really amazing things happen; orphaned partridge chicks are fostered by a bantam hen and the Minister for The Environment John Gormley arrives to release some birds back in to the wild.   

As a result of the conservation project the Boora Parklands are a treasure trove of different birds and animals and Colin gets his camera out to show us.

The Department of Justice has issued information regarding the Justice Bill 2010.  This Bill passed through the final consideration stage on 23^rd March 2011 and will soon receive Royal Assent.   

The Bill contains three amendments to the Firearms (NI) Order 2004; clauses 103 (Variation of firearms certificate), 104 (Restrictions on the use of shotguns by young persons) and 105 (Restrictions on possession of air guns by young persons). 

The Department of Justice has confirmed these clauses will not be commenced upon Royal Assent and will only come into effect once they are commenced by the Minister at some time in the future by means of an Order in the NI Assembly. 

Therefore, the provisions in the Firearms (NI) Order 2004 are unaffected by the Bill until such times as the Minister decides to commence any or all of the three clauses.

Coillte are currently inviting tenders for licences to hunt game deer and game on designated areas of their forest estate. 

Coillte owns over 445,000 hectares of land, about 7% of the land cover of Ireland. 

Catalogues of available licences together with tendering instructions are available for download here. 

The closing date for receipt of tenders is 5pm on Friday 15^th April 2011.  No tenders will be accepted after this date and canvassing will disqualify.