Last December, I wrote about fox hunting and political evasion and why I do not believe tradition alone justifies the organised pursuit and killing of a wild animal for pleasure. I wrote then about my rural farming upbringing and my father’s deep dislike of fox hunts and terrier men. I highlighted the cynical attempt to recast opposition to fox hunting as hostility toward rural communities, rather than acknowledging how many people from farming and rural backgrounds object to it. In that ... Read more...
Last December, I wrote about fox hunting and political evasion and why I do not believe tradition alone justifies the organised pursuit and killing of a wild animal for pleasure.
I wrote then about my rural farming upbringing and my father’s deep dislike of fox hunts and terrier men. I highlighted the cynical attempt to recast opposition to fox hunting as hostility toward rural communities, rather than acknowledging how many people from farming and rural backgrounds object to it.
In that article, I noted that John Blair, Alliance MLA, intended to bring forward legislation again early this year.
That has now happened, with the new Hunting with Dogs Bill passing First Stage in the Assembly on 27 April 2026. The Bill would prohibit the hunting of wild mammals with dogs, while retaining exemptions for activities such as livestock protection, humane killing and disease prevention.
The upcoming Second Stage vote will determine whether the Bill proceeds to full Assembly scrutiny or is blocked again at an early stage.
In the lead-up to Sinn Féin’s Ard Fheis in Belfast on 24 April, animal welfare campaigners, activists and ordinary members applied sustained pressure on the party to change course on fox hunting. Delegates ultimately voted to support a ban on fox hunting with dogs for leisure purposes.
There was always something politically awkward about a left-wing republican party continuing to resist legislation aimed at restricting fox hunting. Across Britain and Ireland, parties on the left have generally supported stronger animal welfare protections and challenged traditions associated with cruelty, privilege and social deference. Fox hunting sat uneasily within that political space for obvious reasons.
Traditions do change. Rural customs involving cruelty to animals, including the hunting of wrens on St Stephen’s Day, have already faded or disappeared across Ireland.
Rural life is not sentimental about animals, because farmers understand death and difficult decisions in a way many people outside the countryside often do not. And that’s precisely why many rural people draw such a clear distinction between necessity and the organised pursuit of a wild animal for entertainment.
The question now is whether Sinn Féin MLAs are prepared to turn the position endorsed at Ard Fheis into meaningful action when this Bill comes before Stormont.
To be fair, Sinn Féin were not alone in opposing similar legislation in 2021. Many DUP MLAs also voted against it, although the party permitted a free vote. MLAs from the UUP, Alliance, the SDLP, the Greens and independent MLAs supported the Bill, as did some DUP MLAs, including the late Christopher Stalford, Paula Bradley, Joanne Bunting, Peter Weir and Jim Wells.
Stalford explicitly rejected the idea that hunting with hounds was either necessary or widely supported, arguing during the 2021 debate that “That is sport, not pest control” and dismissing the idea of a silent pro-hunting majority as “nonsense”.
The attempt to portray opposition to fox hunting as hostility toward rural life has always been misleading, because fox hunts have never enjoyed anything close to universal support within rural communities.
People living in the countryside have described hunts crossing land without permission, livestock being disturbed, gates being left open, pets being injured or killed, and residents feeling intimidated or dismissed when they object.
Organisations like the Countryside Alliance are defending not simply a tradition but an older culture in which hunts expect deference from rural communities, and those who object are somehow unreasonable or disloyal to rural life itself.
However, the Bill is not aimed at ordinary farming or legitimate livestock protection. Northern Ireland remains the only part of the UK where hunting wild mammals with dogs is still legal.
Credit is due to John Blair for continuing to bring this issue back before the Assembly despite repeated resistance and setbacks.
In politics, meaningful change often depends on a relatively small number of people being willing to keep going, keep arguing and keep pushing. But lasting change also depends on ordinary people deciding an issue matters enough to support those trying to act on it.
If you support this Bill, now is the time to contact your MLA, ahead of the vote, which may happen as early as next week.
Recent months have shown that political parties do respond to sustained public pressure on this issue.
As I said last December, tradition alone is not a moral defence. Traditions that depend upon pleasure in cruelty deserve to end.
