Opinion

Stormont hunting bill was missed opportunity

The practice of using dogs to hunt wild animals, including foxes, stags and deer, belongs in the 19th rather than the 21st century, and it is not surprising that it has long since been banned in all parts of Britain.

There can only be concern that it remains legal on both sides of the border in Ireland, and that a proposal from the Alliance MLA John Blair to introduce new legislation was defeated in unusual circumstances at Stormont last week.

Members from most parties expressed opposition to fox hunting as a sport in particular, and accepted the need for new regulations but unfortunately could not agree on what form they should take.

The result was that some DUP and all Sinn Féin representatives voted against the measure, and, although the SDLP, Alliance and Green Party groups supported it, the motion was lost on a 45/38 split.

What has raised eyebrows is that, only last year, Sinn Féin's president Mary Lou McDonald, declared that her party was opposed to fox hunting and would vote 'in favour of a ban at the first opportunity.'

Sinn Féin's Stormont agriculture spokesperson Declan McAleer told the Assembly debate that his party was firmly opposed to the unnecessary infliction of cruelty on animals, but its position in both the north and south was actually that regulation rather than a ban was the best approach.

Mr McAleer said he felt that Mr Blair's bill was `unworkable, flawed and rushed,' amending it would not be possible at this stage and the issue should be revisited after the election scheduled for May of next year.

The huge problem is that Assembly terms have come and gone since hunting was outlawed in Britain almost two decades ago, with our MLAs never getting anywhere close to a decisive intervention.

An obvious opportunity was in place last week, and it is disappointing that, despite clear indications of a cross-party consensus on the need for new legislation, it did not prove possible to agree the relatively minor tweaks which could have allowed Mr Blair's motion to get over the line.

There will be strong backing for the assertion from Brendan Mullan of the Ulster Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals that the Stormont outcome was `contrary to the views of the public’. A new approach is required as a matter of urgency.