ANALYSIS:A small group of Fianna Fáil TDs opposing John Gormley's plans on hunting and dog breeding are coming under increasing pressure to toe the line, writes MARY MINIHAN
GREEN PARTY leader John Gormley wants to see stag hunting banned and dog breeding more strictly regulated before the Dáil rises for its summer recess, probably in a fortnight’s time.
Despite extensive lobbying from pro-hunting groups, disgruntled rural Fianna Fáil TDs have as good as given up complaining about the Wildlife (Amendment) Bill, which will outlaw deer-hunting with packs of dogs.
It was contained in the revised programme for government, struck between the Coalition partners last year after lengthy deliberations, and Fianna Fáil deputies are expected to back the Bill next week.
However, sensitive negotiations are continuing between Taoiseach Brian Cowen and Minister for the Environment Gormley on the Dog Breeding Establishments Bill – at least that is what Fianna Fáil TDs are being told. The proposed legislation will come to the Dáil for the first time on Friday of next week, with the remaining stages squeezed into the following week.
Some 10 rural Fianna Fáil backbenchers had been grumbling about the Bill, with some grumbles interpreted as threats to vote against it. Former ceann comhairle John O’Donoghue’s subtle intervention at an Oireachtas committee last month appeared to embolden others.
“There’s a feeling out there in the countryside among those involved in pursuits of a rural nature . . . that this legislation, whilst welcome in some respects, is the thin end of the wedge,” he said.
While he did not believe Gormley wished to “sow doubt in people’s minds”, the Green leader also had a “duty” to reassure rural dwellers about their hobbies.
But the complainers have now dwindled to a hardcore of three that the whips have some level of concern about. The trio – Máire Hoctor, Christy O’Sullivan and Mattie McGrath – held an impromptu meeting in the Dáil members’ bar on Tuesday night to discuss their increasingly isolated position.
“I’m surprised the interest has fallen away. The numbers expressing concern about it have diminished in the last week or two, which I’m very surprised about. I think some of them have given up the lobby on it,” Hoctor said yesterday.
The three TDs felt the spotlight shine on them after Senator Denis O’Donovan’s surprise abstention during the Seanad vote on the Bill last week. An unlikely rebel, O’Donovan, from Bantry in Co Cork, was a prominent backbencher in the last administration and chairman of the all-party committee on the Constitution.
He has been summoned to the Government Chief Whip’s office at 1.30pm today to explain himself. He believes he could lose the party whip, or be “yellow-carded” as he puts it, but adds: “The eating of the pie will be next week in the Dáil.”
O’Donovan said he was being asked to take a “leap of faith” in the Seanad by voting for a series of amendments signalled by Gormley, who said he would introduce them in the Dáil. That sounded “too vague”, O’Donovan said.
However, Gormley’s detailed Seanad address was similar to his “suite of amendments” outlined in a letter to Cowen on May 26th. He offered “significant” concessions – micro-chipping, inspections, fees, breeding limitations and exporting, along with a “review clause” to examine the impact on the greyhound industry 12 months after the law has been introduced.
A small group of Fianna Fáil backbenchers sought clarifications on some amendments and demanded further changes on others, and Cowen reported back to the Fianna Fáil parliamentary party on Tuesday. Some were satisfied.
But Hoctor said further concessions were essential. “They’ll have to be sorted and addressed before this comes before us.” O’Sullivan could not be reached yesterday. McGrath said: “We don’t know what we are voting for. Time is ticking away. Next thing the Bill will be happening on top of us and we will have no clarification.
“They are talking about dogs now. Next thing they’ll go onto horses, they’ll go on to cattle, they’ll go on to pigs.”
The Dáil record will soon show whether there is posturing going on in an attempt to impress rural voters in Tipperary North, Cork South-West and Tipperary South, or if this apparently minor piece of legislation is truly a flashpoint between the Coalition partners.
Gormley feels he has right on his side. Launching the legislation at the tail end of last year, he said it would stop “backstreet dog-breeders” and also benefit those commercial breeders who do a good job and treat their animals humanely. It is an emotive issue for the Greens, and any weakening of the legislation would hurt the party’s vote.
Interestingly, attention will turn to the position the Labour Party officially adopts on the legislation to ban stag hunting, which will be discussed in the Dáil this evening. (The ban will affect the only licensed hunt in the country: the Ward Union Hunt in Co Meath.)
Among a number of Labour TDs who have previously confirmed they do not support a ban is Kildare North deputy Emmet Stagg and last night, the party confirmed it would vote against the proposed legislation.