Editor– Those who follow the ‘horn and hound’ are claiming that foxhunting with hounds is part of Ireland’s cultural tapestry.

Woe betide any attempt to unpick this scarlet thread and unravel over a century of Irish fox tormenting and killing.

These lounge-bar republicans with their shamrock vison are failing to see ‘Made in Britain’ embossed on the Irish hunt meets card.

Organised fox hunting with hounds that darkens our countryside can trace its birth to Leicestershire, England.

In 1753, an 18-year-old Hugo Meynell, often referred to as the father of modern foxhunting, began to hunt to a system, whilst breeding hunting dogs for their speed and stamina as well as their keen scent at Quorndon Hall, his estate in North Leicestershire.

Previously, foxhunting with hounds came behind stag hunting and hare hunting in the British countryside.

It was seen as more of a pest control activity and was conducted by hounds hunting the overnight ‘drag’ of the fox back to its earth; the animal was then dug out and killed.

The hunting of the fox for sport using hounds bred for speed, drive and stamina became fashionable for the British gentry in the mid-eighteenth century.

In the Irish countryside, this new style of foxhunting started to appear as local hunts formed to conduct fox hunting in an organised manner using hounds bred to hunt foxes across the countryside whilst providing sport for their subscribers.

The Irish Masters of Foxhounds Association (IMFHA) was founded on April 4th 1859, the objective being to form a body to govern all hunting disputes, to encourage the preservation of foxes, and to deal with other matters related to foxhunting in Ireland.

To suggest that Ireland ‘owns’ fox hunting with hounds, a cruel recreational activity designed to bring about the demise of the fox, is a neat reversal of those times the British try to appropriate Irish success.

For once, let us gladly hand this cruel pastime back to the UK. It is theirs, not ours.

John Tierney

Association of Hunt Saboteurs

Dublin

A debate on foxhunting takes places this week in the Dáil.

Gaelic football gets an excitement boost

EDITOR -   Credit must be given to the GAA rules committee for the new two-point award in games. It brings out the best of football skills from players and has made games very exciting and in doubt to the final whistle.

Bringing heartbreak for some teams and great joy for others, no doubt the game of gaelic football needed a boost to make it exciting again.

I think they should take a look at the sideline kicks from the hand. Most players tend to take yards extra and run into space to score, etcetera.

I suggest all line balls, frees and kick-out balls should be placed on the ground and this would encourage high fielding; a sideline kick from the ground should be awarded two points no matter what distance they are from the goalposts.

I have memories of watching great players score spectacular points from the sideline, and it was a feature of gaelic football. It should be looked at again and would help to restore the game to what it was.

Jeremiah McCarthy,

Clonakilty.

Remembering Sophie on her anniversary

EDITOR - Thank you for the part that The Southern Star plays in keeping that tragic and still unresolved story alive. As my contribution to the approaching anniversary, I have written a short poem to Sophie and her still grieving family:

A Poem for Sophie Toscan du Plantier

Beautiful Sophie Toscan du Plantier lived life to the full

Who it was killed her we don’t know really

But many’s a one in the Parish of Schull

Pointed the finger at one Ian Bailey.

Her family in grief

Village and region impressed

By their quiet belief

That only justice brings rest.

So we stand with them still sharing a sorrow

That cannot yet cease

Till that longed for tomorrow

When Sophie knows peace.

Billy Conn, Schull.

We need fairness for the Irish fishing industry

EDITOR - Our fishing industry will be doomed if these quotas are implemented; this is due to reckless overfishing by third country coastal states including Norway, the Faroes, Iceland, and Russia and not our small fleet of boats.

Enough is enough and we in Ireland need to start demanding fairness for our fishermen.

We have already taken a big hit since Brexit and

our coastal and fishing industry needs to be protected by the EU. These cuts will be the end of our fishing industry, and come with job losses.

Noel Harrington

Kinsale.