Photo Source: Irish Council Against Bloodsports

The success of the Repeal campaign in the recent referendum is a neon sign blinking at politicians, warning them that parking issues of national interest does not work. It becomes politically productive to grasp the thistle, endure the short-lived pain and be a catalyst for creating a political legacy.

With the scent of political reform in their nostrils, politicians should now tackle the issue of legalised cruelty. For decades they have avoided dealing with the bloodsports issue and were content to allow the continuation of animal abuse.

Tinkering around the edges does not constitute political action. You cannot legislate for a certain level of legal animal abuse. The existence of baiting and killing wild animals for entertainment shows that Irish society is still handcuffed to a past decomposing within our midst.

A tragic event in a Galway hospital bed was the drive for politicians to take their finger out of the political dyke and act on the issue of female reproductive health.

Will it take a tragic event on the Irish hunting field for our politicians to finally consign bloodsports to history? Given the vicious nature of those who engage in bloodsports and their easy access to firearms, I fear it’s only be a matter of time before this may come to pass.

Mortuary politics is not the way to legislate for a country’s moral standards. It seems in Ireland, one has to die to create the climate for political reform. A high price etched for eternity on a granite headstone.

John Tierney

campaigns director, Association of Hunt Saboteurs