National Coursing Meeting in Tipperary gets the go-ahead

A meeting was held this week to reschedule fixtures in the hare coursing season, following last week’s lifting of the suspension of the annual licence for the capture of hares for coursing.

The decision paves the way for the resumption of coursing and the staging of the National Coursing Meeting in Clonmel early next year.

“Our aim is to try and hold the date (Friday January 31-Sunday February 2) for the national meeting but if we have to change we will”, DJ Histon, chief executive officer of the Irish Coursing Club has stated.

Licences were issued to the club on August 7 to capture and tag hares for the 2019/20 season, and were due to come into effect three days later.

However the licences were suspended on August 9 by the Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht because of the outbreak of RHD2 (Rabbit Haemorrhagic Disease), a disease that mostly affects rabbits, as well as hares. 

The suspension has delayed the beginning of the coursing season, and forced the cancellation of meetings around the country where greyhounds qualify for the national meeting, an event that’s worth millions of euro to Clonmel’s economy each year.

It’s now expected that the first of those qualifiers will be held on November 8-10 at Liscannor in Clare and the Ballyheigue/Kilflynn meeting in Kerry.

New dates will be scheduled for meetings postponed as a result of the suspension, including Cashel and Crohane/Killenaule.

“Obviously our first priority is the Irish hare and being able to assist in the monitoring of RHD2 ”, says DJ Histon.

“We’re unique in that we have a club network spanning the counties that can provide good intelligence regarding the surveillance of hares”.

Mr. Histon says that all coursing clubs are starting to reactivate and the fixtures meeting would try and accommodate all clubs in the calendar, and reach the target of the national meeting.

Welcoming the lifting of the suspension, he said it was “a big step forward to getting back to where we were”.

Meanwhile, Clonmel’s Mayor Garret Ahearn has welcomed the removal of the threat that had hung over the national meeting in Clonmel.

“This was achieved following discussions between the National Parks and Wildlife Service, the Department of Agriculture, the Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, and the Irish Coursing Club. 

“I would like to thank everyone who contacted me over the past few weeks for their patience, and in particular DJ Histon for working with both departments to find a common ground”.

The lifting of the suspension allows netting on a managed and restricted basis and only in areas unaffected by the RHD2 virus. 

It has been agreed that a number of field studies at some coursing clubs, which will involve veterinary and virology expertise and input, will be carried out to supplement existing knowledge of the prevalence and nature of RHD2.

The capture of hares is prohibited in areas from a 25km radius of where either wild hares or wild rabbits have tested positive for RHD2. 

There will also be an agreed regime of spot checks for RHD2 in those coursing clubs that are being licensed.

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