The Irish Council Against Blood Sports (ICABS) is urging delegates at the Sinn Féin Ard Fheis to back a ban on the barbaric practice of fox hunting. The party’s main conference is set to take place at Belfast’s Waterfront Hall on April 24-25 2026.
Two motions on the topic will be voted on by party members. According to ICABS:
Motion 28 calls on party delegates to support the continuation of the cruel bloodsport, ie that it is “regulated” but not banned.
Motion 29 calls on the party to “support a ban on the practice of fox hunting with dogs for the sole purpose of leisure”, stating that “the hunting of foxes using dogs for the sole purpose of leisure is unavoidably cruel and by necessity inflicts terror, exhaustion, irrevocable injury, and death on the foxes involved”.
The configuration of motions seems designed to create a roadblock to increase the likelihood of a ban vote passing. ICABS say:
Motion 28 will be presented for discussion and vote on the first day of the Ard Fheis (Friday, 24th April). If delegates vote in favour, the following “ban fox hunting” motion (29) will automatically fail.
If motion 28 is rejected, a vote will then be taken on motion 29.
Sinn Féin must listen
The campaign group has the text of the motions in full, with motion 28 deploying some obvious sophistry in its wording. It refers to how:
…hunting in Ireland dates back thousands of years with Irish Mythology and examples such as Cu Chulainn the “Hound of Ulster” being defined by their hunting roles in Celtic lore;
This is a rather sordid attempt to leverage the emotional connection people have with Celtic folklore, in an attempt to falsely tie it in with a current cruel practice whose form was largely shaped by English colonisers.
Furthermore, hunting thousands of years ago took place in an entirely different context – one in which, in many cases, survival necessitated it. Now, no such justification exists. It is a form of entertainment for sadists who are amused by torturing a defenceless creature to death. An ICABS campaign video shows this in graphic detail.
Lastly, even if fox hunting in its current incarnation had been going on for millennia, advocating for its continuation purely on that basis is a hollow argument. The key point is the cruelty involved. Would it have been meaningful to argue for the continuation of child labour on the basis that it had been practiced for centuries?
The nonsense continued as the motion:
Notes that these type of issues have been successfully used to create a wedge between rural communities and left-wing parties all over the world, commends Sinn Féin for its efforts to strike the right balance by supporting and promoting alternatives to activities such as Fox Hunting while not endorsing wholesale bans which would alienate many rural supporters;
Most rural voters want the barbaric practice banned
In reality, recent polling shows a majority of rural people want the so-called sport to be outlawed. A recent poll found “68% favour a ban”. 73% of the Irish public want the terrorising and mutilation of defenceless foxes to cease. Rural Ireland Against Fox Hunting emphasised this, saying:
A small section of Sinn Fein support Fox Hunting.
They DO NOT represent rural Ireland.
They DO NOT represent Sinn Fein voters.
They DO NOT represent the majority of Ireland.
81% of Sinn Féin’s potential voters want a ban.
They state that:
Sinn Fein hold the key to getting fox hunting banned.
Motion 29, calling for a ban, includes more detail on the polling, citing:
…support for a ban across the Connacht-Ulster region of the 26 Counties (73%), Leinster (71%) and Munster (69%) in a 2025 survey by Ireland Thinks;
It points out:
That fox hunting is a legacy of British colonial rule and causes damage to crops and livestock of farmers whose land faces are trespassed by large numbers of horses and dogs;
The motion concludes by committing:
To support a ban on the practice of fox hunting with dogs for the sole purpose of leisure, and mandates the party to engage with rural communities to ensure that such a ban is introduced in a way that does not unduly impact rural life.
On their blog, the Irish Council Against Blood Sports have a list of Sinn Féin TDs along with their emails and phone numbers. They ask those concerned with animal welfare to:
Please join us in urging Sinn Fein TDs and other representatives to reject motion 28 and vote in favour of motion 29. The time has come for the party to finally reflect public opinion and support a ban on this cruel, colonial bloodsport.
Featured image via the Canary
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