Majority of Meath cllrs vote to reverse stag-hunting ban

The vexed question of stag-hunting reared its head at Meath County Council's monthly meeting this week when Fianna Fail councillors were in full cry over the alleged failure of the government to reverse the ban on this form of hunting. There was overwhelming support for a motion put forward by FF councillor Tommy Reilly that the council request Arts, Heritage & Gaeltacht Affairs Minister Jimmy Deenihan to reverse the ban with immediate effect, as promised by both Fine Gael and Labour prior to the general election. The vast majority of members voted in favour of the motion, with a handful of councillors abstaining, and with FF councillor Noel Leonard firmly against reversing the ban. Cllr Reilly said he had been contacted by people over the Christmas period asking to have the ban reversed. He claimed that before the last general election, Labour TD Dominic Hannigan had attended a meeting in Simonstown, Navan, at which he had stated that when Labour got into govermnment with Fine Gael, the ban would be reversed. The councillor called on him to put his promise into effect. "There is a lot of employment involved here in this industry. I would like to call on Dominic Hannigan to propose a vote to reverse the ban," he said. Cllr Wayne Harding said that, this time last year, he had supported a motion put forward by Fine Gael Cllr John Farrelly suppprting the RISE campaign in favour of stag-hunting. Cllr Oliver Fox said hunting was a part of country life. It employed a lot of people who enjoyed partaking in hunting. Cllr Nick Killian said an impression had been given that the ban would be "got rid of very quietly". However, the Taoiseach had said that he was not for changing his mind on the issue of stag hunting and that the ban would be kept. Fianna Fail Cllr Noel Leonard said he could not agree with the motion put forward by Cllr Tommy Reilly. "It is well-documented that I oppose stag-hunting for the simple reason that it is cruel." He called on members of the Labour Party present at the council meeting to "examine their consciences" about the matter. He said he was delighted that Deputy Hannigan had done a u-turn on the issue and he hoped he would "stick to his guns". Cllr Leonard added: "There should never again be stag-hunting. Not one job has been lost as a result of the ban - the statistics are there to prove it. There is no need for stag-hunting in this day and age." Cllr Brian Fitzgerald said stag-hunting had been part of life in the county for a very long time. The object of stag-hunting was not to go out and kill the stag, he said. Cllr John Farrelly said the particular motion put forward by Cllr Reilly would have no effect on the government. The issue had not been agreed as part of the Programme for Government between Fine Gael and Labour and there would be no decision on the stag-hunting issue until such time as there was a review of that programme. His party colleague, Bill Carey, said that stag hunting was "on the way out anyway - it is far too expensive". Cllr Jimmy Fegan said that he abhorred stag-hunting and always had. He said the making of promises was a regular feature of elections. In some cases, people made promises in order to win a seat but, at the same time, hoped they would not be in power after the election. It was also his view that, over the period of the present government, a number of pre-election promises would be broken. He said he was voting against Cllr Reilly's motion. Cllr Catherine Yore said she supported Cllr Reilly's motion to have the ban reversed.