Madam, - At long last MPs have voted to ban the barbarism of fox hunting in England and Wales, following the good example of the Scottish parliament. One of the angry protesters at Westminster referred to their blood sport as a "historical tradition that extends back for centuries". Well, so do many other immoral practices, but tradition does not confer rectitude.
So, that leaves poor old Ireland still in the dark ages with legal hunting of live hares, foxes and deer by men and women with packs of hounds, for the perverse pleasure of humans.
If only our government had the courage to put the vote to the people, hunting and coursing would be a thing of the past here also. Independent polls have proven that 80 per cent of rural and urban Irish people want blood sports banned, so it's not a "countryside vs. townies" issue. - Yours, etc.,
SUSAN FLYNN, Dale View Park, Ballybrack, Co Dublin.