Last Tuesday, November 10^th we brought you an exclusive story in relation to the role of the N.P.W.S. (National Parks and Wildlife Service) in contributing to the slaughter of hares in Co.Wexford and in many other counties. Since last Tuesday, the situation has developed.

In last week’s article, the Author highlighted that:

“The N.P.W.S. publish details on its website, npws.ie, of the locations where every coursing club both net and subsequently release hares. This information is available to the general public at the click of a button. In some instances, it is not just the townland that is named but the individual farm is identified.”

By publishing this very specific information, the N.P.W.S provide illegal hunters with all of the information they need to track down the hares. Using this information, illegal hunters descend on the lands which have been identified by the N.P.W.S, and trespass illegally on the farms in search of hares. This causes great distress to the farmer and causes many issues for livestock and bloodstock.

All of the above information is factual and we have evidence to support any of the claims made in last week’s article. Last weeks article can be viewed here: https://wexfordtoday.com/2020/11/10/n-p-w-s-complicit-in-slaughter-of-hares/

Two days after the publication of our story, the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage addressed the issue via a press release. Minister Darragh O’Brien (Fianna Fail) and Junior Minister Malcolm Noonan (Green Party) are the two Ministers in question. The full statement can be found here: https://www.housing.gov.ie/heritage/national-parks-and-wildlife/minister-welcomes-release-over-1200-hares-back-wild

In that press release Minister Darragh O’Brien made a number of statements which we have evidence to prove were incorrect.

In his statement Minister O’Brien says the following:

“there have been a number of erroneous claims on social media that the National Park and Wildlife Service publish the release locations of hares by ICC clubs. That is absolutely not the case and such claims are misleading and designed solely to serve an agenda supporting the retention of the hares in continuing captivity.”

1. Minister O’Brien clearly denies that the N.P.W.S. publish the release locations of hares. We have evidence to the contrary.

Here is a redacted screenshot from the N.P.W.S. website which shows the release locations of hares in the New Ross area in 2016, marked with an official Department stamp. Due to these areas being targeted by illegal hunters we have redacted the names on the document and the locations:

Release locations, for three of the last four seasons, were available to view on the N.P.W.S website until Thursday November 12^th. They were deleted from the N.P.W.S. website just hours before Minister O’Brien released his statement denying that they were ever published in the first place.

As you can see, not only did the N.P.W.S. publish the documents, but they actually gave exact GPS co-ordinates of where the hares were released, they gave the date on which they were released, they published the name of the officials who were present and they published the number of hares which were released.

Reminder that in his statement, Minister O’Brien claimed that it “is absolutely not the case (that the NPWS published release locations) and such claims are misleading”.

The evidence above displays very clearly that this denial by Minister O’Brien is untrue.

2. The 2^nd major issue with Minister O’Brien’s statement is that he called into question the motives of those who are highlighting the issue. He said that the claims were “designed solely to serve an agenda supporting the retention of the hares in continuing captivity”.

This statement is also untrue. The claims in our original article were made with the purpose of highlighting the problems faced by farmers, animals and Gardaí, caused by the N.P.W.S. publishing release locations on their website.

In fact, only yesterday morning there was an incident reported in South Wexford, of poachers trespassing in pursuit of hares.

A statement from An Garda Síochana confirms that Wexford Gardaí on Sunday November 15^th disrupted poachers on the South slob. One eye witness stated that the suspects fled upon seeing the Garda car. By the time the level crossing gates were unlocked to allow the guards access to the slob, the group had fled at speed. It is understood that the car used was found hidden behind old sheds on the slob. The Garda press office in a statement issued to WexfordToday, confirmed that Gardaí were approached by a member of the public who advised them of the issue and on further investigation by Gardaí, an abandoned car was recovered and two dead hares.

This comes only weeks after a conviction was handed down by Wexford District Court for illegal hare hunting on the North Slob. In responding to this conviction, Junior Minister Malcolm Noonan made the following statement:

“It is my intention to explore further the establishment and resourcing of a Wildlife Crime Unit within the NPWS in 2021, building on the already good working relationship that we have with An Garda Siochana. Wildlife crime at a time of a biodiversity crisis is unacceptable and I would urge the public to report suspected incidents to relevant authorities.”

So, contrary to Minister O’Brien’s original statement, the claims were not made “to support the retention of hares in continuing captivity”, the claims were made highlight the ongoing problems caused to farmers, Gardaí and animals, by the N.P.W.S. publishing such detailed information on their website.

In order to correct these errors, we contacted the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage who provided us with an updated statement:

“For the 2018/19 season the NPWS changed its data release policy and have since redacted all release location returns which are provided by coursing clubs. 

Historical returns, provided by coursing clubs, were available on the N.P.W.S. website. Following on from coursing clubs pointing out last week that historical release data was still accessible for seasons prior to 2018, and on being advised that this information be removed, the N.P.W.S. redacted this information from published historical returns. 

The N.P.W.S. did not release any data in relation to the most recent release of hares. Claims made to the contrary are wrong. The illegal hunting of hares is a matter the NPWS takes very seriously and they are continuing to work with An Garda Síochana on tackling the issue in problematic areas.”

We welcome the updated statement from the Department confirming that our claims last week, were true. The fact that all names and locations of hare releases have been removed from the N.P.W.S. website is good news. Despite the fact that this years release locations were not published, it should be noted that more often than not, release locations are similar year after year. The publication of data from previous seasons allows the hare population to be targeted.

If you need information on wildlife legislation and licensing, need to report a wildlife crime or habitat destruction (out-of-season burning/hedgerow clearing, etc.) please contact the National Parks and Wildlife Service by email on nature.conservation@ahg.gov.ie, by telephone on LoCall 1890 202 021.