Ireland’s Ward Union wins right to hunt stags in High Court decision
Ireland’s hunting community is celebrating an unexpected victory today after The Dublin High Court granted an interlocutory injunction in favour of the Ward Union Hunt against the licence Environment Minister John Gormley issued to the hunt.
The injunction effectively suspends the current licence, issued on 19 December, which is the subject of a judicial review before the same court.
Chairman of the Hunting Association of Ireland Gavin Duffy said: “The Ward Union could go out hunting this afternoon. It is an unexpected victory for us as we had thought we would have to wait to get the terms of last year’s licence reinstated.
“This allows the Ward Union to hunt for the last three weeks of the season.”
The Ward Union hunts a “carted stag”, meaning they release and recapture unharmed deer bred in captivity by themselves in the course of the day’s hunting.
License for this activity has to be agreed by the environment minister but the licence issued to the Ward Union in December limited them laying a trail with a stag and capturing the stag before the hounds are released.
Hunt members said this was an impossible constraint upon them.
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Speaking after today’s High Court decison Ward Union Chairman Oliver Russell said: “We now await the direction of the court, but in granting the injunction the current licence is suspended so we now understand we operate under the previous licence which grants us permission to hunt deer in the traditional manner.
“We are losing a minimum of €4,000 per week because of this unworkable license and remember we need funds to maintain our conservation programme of Irish Red Deer.
“We all welcome the suspension of that unworkable licence today during the review.”
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A self-confessed newshound, farmer’s daughter and journalist of many years' experience, Charlotte worked on regional papers before joining H&H in 2007. A regular rider, she visited Ireland in 2010 to investigate the fate of Irish horses through the recession, to much acclaim, and reported from the FEI General Assembly in Rio de Janeiro in 2011. She left Horse & Hound in March 2013.