Massive crowd gathers in Trim in support of hunt

There were extraordinary scenes of resistance to a proposed banning of the Ward Union Hunt by the Government at a massive rally in Trim on Monday night. The Minister for the Environment, John Gormley, and his Green Party, and the Minister for Transport, Noel Dempsey, who declined to attend the meeting, came under severe fire as up to 1,500 supporters of "the country way of life" came together at the meeting organised by the Hunting Association of Ireland in support of the Ward Union Hunt. Two ante-rooms in the hotel were set up with big screens to accommodate the overflowing crowd. The editor of the Irish Farmers' Journal, Matt Dempsey, who is also president of the RDS and hunts in Kildare, received a standing ovation from a cheering room afer a stirring speech in which he attacked the Green Party and its leader as incompetents who were trying to destroy one of Ireland's major international industries, the horse industry. Mr Dempsey described hunting as the foundation and the spawning ground of the major international competitive industry. "Of course it's a sport. Of course, it's a pastime," he said. "But unapologetically, it is a really major industry." Success He pointed to the success of racehorse Sea The Stars in the flat racing world this year. "Was it an accident that it was bred in the National Stud, trained by John Oxx and has retired to stud in Kildare? Is this an accident? It is not - it is a tribute to the horsemanship and sheer animal empathy that lies within our people," Mr Dempsey said. Hunting was not something that came from a foreign influence, he said, as Cúchullain was recorded as resting after hunting with hounds. "The attempt to ban the Ward Union is a first step in trying to ban all hunting and country pursuits," he declared. "Next would be foxhunting and beagling - be clear of the next steps." Mr Dempsey outlined how the Green Party had introduced regulations which were severely problematic for farming and agriculture, and said he had an issue with its "malign influence" on agriculure, farming, sport and the country way of life. He described John Gormley as incompetent and highlighted the fact that he took a case against the Ward Union over its licence to court, only to lose, at the taxpayers' expense. The Minister had broken his promise on legislation regarding the kennelling of hounds, Mr Dempsey added. The hunting industry was the backbone of so many other businesses, from blacksmiths and feed mills to knackeries, and it was sad to see civil servants following a fully licensed hunt around the plains of county Meath, he commented, in reference to the inspectors from the Department who monitor the hunt. "It's not about preserving a pastime for the few - its maintaining a livelihood for many, and hunting is an intrinsic part of farming and agriculture," Mr Dempsey said, pointing out that the meeting had attracted more than a Green Party convention. Inspectors Gavin Duffy of the Hunting Association, who also appears as a judge on RTE's 'Dragon's Den' and TV3's 'The Apprentice', said that inspectors were driving around after the Ward Union Hunt trying to find evidence that the stag is stressed. "They measure the adrenalin before and after the hunt, and they find that there is no difference, because this is a flight animal. The Greens wouldn't know this because there aren't too many stags in Sandymount," he said. Mr Duffy said they were going to have to bring the protest to Dublin, and pick a date in the New Year when they would bring all their horses to the Phoenix Park and ride up to the Dáil. "That would send a message to Fianna Fail that they're messing with the wrong people - tens of thousands of horses arriving on Leinster House." Mr Duffy said that the Minister for Transport, the senior Fianna Fail minister in the county, had shown where he stands on hunting and rural life by saying he wouldn't be attending the meeting. "This meeting was held in Trim to accommodate the local deputy," he said. "Mr Dempsey has shown great insult to his local constituency by not showing up." The attendance also included Meath East TDs Shane McEntee and Thomas Byrne and Meath West TD Damien English, Fianna Fail deputies Daragh O'Brien and Michael Kennedy from Dublin North, and Cllr Nick Killian, representing Deputy Mary Wallace. The Government deputies said they would work to change the legislation while the Opposition deputies said they supported the campaign of the hunt associations. "I wake up every morning to the sound of the Meath Hunt hounds," Damien English said in response to an allegation that he had an urban base. Speaker after speaker representing various hunting, shooting, fishing and gun clubs, as well as the Irish Farmers Association from across the county and country, spoke in support of hunts, and the attendance included a large number of well-known jockeys including Paul Carberry, Robert Power, Ross Geraghty, Michael Kinane, Nina Carberry, Norman Williamson and many other well-known faces from the racing industry. Former Meath senior football captain Tommy Dowd said that hunting was part of rural Meath and Rural Ireland, and that John Gormley had no idea about what he's doing. "I had many a battle on the football field - but Minister Gormley is in for one hell of a battle with everyone here," he declared.