An open letter to John Gormley - the pro hunting Minister

I have just read the following "Mr Gormley announced today that he has decided to renew the hunt's licence for a year" having picked it up from Damien Mulleys post here.

Having called the local GP councillor, Malcolm Noonan (also a good friend of mine) I then left the following comment on John Gormleys blog. His comments are moderated so will have to see if it gets let through.

keith
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John

I am 42 and have voted Green Party as my No1 vote since I started voting in the late 80's - both in Ireland and the UK.

However as close as green issues are to my heart the abolition of blood sports is closer - and your actions on allowing both fox hunting and stag hunting mean that for the first time ever I will be voting No1 for another party in the next elections.

And Malcolm Noonan (who I have just being speaking to and who shares my disbelief at your actions) will loose my vote locally.

These compromises are too close to the core of what I know you hold close to your own heart.

____________________________________________________

UPDATE - received the following from someone in John Gormley's office this morning and they were ok to have it posted here.

John has asked me to get back to you on this matter.

The Green Party, and John personally, have a long history in relation to anti-blood sports support. The party has been to the forefront in highlighting this issue for many years. Now in government we have remained true to this cause and ensured that the Stag will not be harmed whatsoever in the Ward Union hunt.
 
Unfortunately this issue proved not to be as simple as John would have liked. The advice from the Attorney General was that legally John was in no position to just refuse the licence.

What John has managed to ensure with this licence is that both the safety of the public and that of the Stag will be maintained at all times. The restrictions that accompanied the licence mean that the Stag will not be chased by the hounds. The Stag will in fact be en route back to its herd by the time the hounds are released. Throughout it will be monitored to ensure that it does not cause any public safety issues. I have attached a copy of the licence for your perusal.
 
John's initiative has been welcomed by the major anti bloodsports groups and angrily disapproved of by the Ward Union hunt.

Comments

[DC]

Read the license conditions.
http://www.greenparty.ie/en/news/latest_news/gormley_issues_restricted_licence_to_ward_union_hunt

Wait for the reaction from the Ward Union.

Consider that, under the legislation (which was designed to facilitate - not restrict - hunts) this is the best result achievable and reflects the serious public safety and animal welfare concerns that John has.

Which other party will you be voting for in the next elections? Which other party holds animal welfare as a higher priority in their policy agenda than the Greens? Which other party would have achieved more than this result? Would a rainbow cabinet with an FG ag minister have gone further?

[keith bohanna]

Thanks for that DC. You are in the unfortunate position of having to defend your position while in the middle of compromising it and Labour and the others have not had to yet. So a statement in their manifesto coming into the next elections that states that they will ban hunting will have yet to stand the test of time.

Unlike yours which will have to revisit the pledge contained in this years manifesto. Could not find it on your site - but this report contains a reference to it: http://www.village.ie/Forum/Election_2007_Blog/The_Green_Party_and_blood_sports/

Excerpt:
In the party's latest policy document, it promises that, when in government, it will "introduce legislation to end blood sports" and "campaign for heavy penalties for organisers of, and participants in, illegal blood sports".
The statements appear in an extensive animal welfare section of the policy document and copper-fasten the Green Party's commitment to ridding Ireland of blood-sport cruelty.

Green Party leader Trevor Sargent says that when his party gets the opportunity, it will ban hare coursing, foxhunting, carted deer hunting and mink hunting and encourage the alternatives of drag hunting and drag coursing.
End of Excerpt

I will finish with some constructive feedback Damian - you should learn to make your comments less aggressive and more on topic. You have ignored the fox hunting issue completely and tried to start a discussion on the hypothetical actions of a non-existent government. An indication of the shaky ground the Green Party is on with this issue I suspect :-)

keith

[Dave]

Labour have already been compromised on this issue. Michael D Higgins issued a licence as Minister under the Ranibow coalition without any restrictions whatsoever. At least Gormley has done something...

[keith bohanna]

Thanks for that Dave and fair point.

Interesting that your IP address is identical to DC who posted the first comment. I guess you must share an internet connection :-)

keith

[Damien Mulley]

Oh look, more astroturfing from Green Party HQ.

[Judi Hewitt]

Green party should just call themselves the red in tooth and claw party. Like all those who crave power, they lose their dignity and morals when they get it!!!