Who, apart from Oscar Wilde with his "the unspeakable in full pursuit of the uneatable", tells us that fox flesh is not for humans? The fox, we know, does eat carrion. It also kills and eats fresh meat of one kind or another. But, anyway, can we be sure that every creature we eat, be it fish, flesh or fowl, lives only on fresh prey? And, in fact, a friend tells of a former colleague of his who, while doing forced labour under the Germans in the second World War, used to trap foxes and make them into a stew - which he ate. However, the edibility of the animal is not at the heart of the argument in Britain over fox-hunting. You might think that a ban there would be good for our tourist trade - with frustrated hunters coming to join Irish hunts. Yet, The Field, the English magazine, has a headline asserting that the move to ban hunting in Britain is a cause of some concern here. Community leaders in rural Ireland fear that if a hunting ban is imposed in Britain, their way of life could be next in the firing line, runs the first paragraph, a mixed metaphor, perhaps. "If hunting is banned [meaning in Britain] then the pressure for a similar ban here will become intense," says farming leader Frank Allen, whose Limerick-based Milk Suppliers' Association represents some 50,000 beef and dairy producers in the heart of rural Ireland. He goes on, according to the article: "We can't afford to concede on hunting. If we do, then shooting, fishing and even some farming activities will be targeted." He even foresees a countryside march such as they had in Britain, in certain circumstances.
Then, the "small but vocal Irish Council Against Blood Sports is said to be stepping up its campaign to have the Irish Government follow the British suit. It also wants coursing outlawed and a halt to the killing of badgers in bovine TB eradication schemes. Three local authorities, according to this article, have been persuaded to back its demands for a foxhunting ban. James Norton, spokesman for the Irish Field and Country Sports Society, says that field sports here generate around £150 million for the economy yearly and are "central to the very fabric of rural communities."
Brer Fox certainly gets a heap of publicity - and no legislation yet passed in Britain. And anglers haven't yet come into the picture, much less shooting. Y