Shooting Times & Country Magazine
Pigeon shooting ban is blow to Irish farmers
Fine Gael’s Culture Minister bans pigeon control during the summer months — when vital crops will be at their most vulnerable to attack
The Irish farming and sporting community is in uproar following pigeon shooting being banned in the country between 31 May and 1 September.
The ban was ordered by Josepha Madigan, the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht. Commenting on the imposition of a season, Tom Payne, Shooting Times contributor and author of The Pigeon Shooter’s Diary, said the move is “ecologically unsound, as woodpigeon are known to breed throughout the year”.
Responding to the ban, the National Association of Regional Game Councils (NARGC) — the largest voluntary organisation in Ireland involved in game shooting and conservation — said Ms Madigan has “removed from the tillage farmer the most effective form of crop protection from woodpigeon damage”.
Ms Madigan is no friend to the fieldsports community, having previously banned hare coursing in Ireland. That ban was unpopular among her fellow Fine Gael ministers, who feared such a move risked the party being perceived as anti-rural.
When the NARGC queried the decision, Ms Madigan’s department responded by saying that it was based on “professional, objective scientific advice” from the National Parks & Wildlife Service (NPWS). The NARGC has asked the NPWS “to publish this advice in full along with the sources of the said advice”.
The NARGC also voiced concern that the change has been made without any consultation
with the people who have
carried out pigeon control for generations.
“The conservation status of the woodpigeon is not threatened in any way and tillage farmers have enough to contend with, without losing yield to hordes of hungry pigeons,” the NARGC added.
It will come as a cause of great concern that the four-month cessation of shooting falls when crops such as barley and wheat are at their most vulnerable.
In a sentiment that will chime with rural communities across the British Isles, who are also frequently impacted by legislation, the NARGC said: “The Minister seems far removed from the problems of the Irish farmer.”
Barry Stoffell, who lives in County Kerry, told Shooting Times: “This news is potentially devastating for tillage farmers. I feel deeply for any farming family now forced to watch hordes of pigeon decimate the crops that were destined to put food on their own table.
“The Minister seems far removed from the problems of the Irish farmer”
“Removing the opportunity to control pigeons in the summer is yet another blow to an already-beleaguered farming sector. This species is under no threat that would warrant this measure and it represents a very significant threat to farming livelihoods.”
At the time of going to press, Ms Madigan’s office had not responded to our request for a comment. PG