Following the High Court decision of Ms Justice Hyland today, the ICC has announced that the balance of the 2020/21 coursing season is concluded. The Judge, in her decision, referred to the strong arguable case in terms of lack of consultation and that the ICC has met the requisite standard in terms of obligations to give reasons as part of a Judicial Review hearing yet to be heard.
The Executive Committee of the ICC acknowledge the support and hard work of its constituent clubs, its greyhound owners, breeders, trainers and sponsors during this season. The Executive is cognisant of the lack of opportunity afforded coursing greyhounds, in what has been a very truncated season within a limited season. As a consequence of such lost opportunity, the Executive decided that it will hold a Derby and Oaks next season for 2019 whelps that have won a trial stake this season with additional qualifiers to reach the required number of entries to stage the event at the National Meeting in 2022.

The Licensing Committee is appointed by the Executive Committee to deal with all licensing issues for the forthcoming season and it has commenced that process.

While we all deal with the current situation, I can assure everyone that every effort is being made in preparing for a successful commencement of the 2021/22 coursing season and this is the focus of the Executive and its Sub-Committees over the coming weeks and months ahead.      

DJ Histon

At call over this morning (14/01/21), Mr Justice Meenan has set Tuesday January 19 for hearing of ICC injunction.

D.J. Histon

Due to current Covid 19 restrictions the ICC offices at Davis Road, Clonmel are closed to the public.  Registrations documents received by post or dropped in the letterbox will be dealt with as normal.  

Telephone calls (Ring 052 6188503) will only be answered between 9am and 12.30pm every day, Monday to Friday incl.

Due to staff rotation there may be some delay in responding to emails (carmel@sportingpress.ie)

Matter will be reviewed after 29th January, 2021

Please note the list of Registration Fees is available to view by clicking on this link https://irishcoursingclub.ie/fees/

Last Monday, the ICC was granted leave to take judicial review proceedings concerning the delisting of coursing from SI 695/2020 on Christmas Eve 2020. The matter was before the High Court today, Friday 8th, to set a schedule for the hearing of the injunction, whereby the ICC’s Senior Counsel reiterated the urgency of the matter given the time remaining in the current season. Mr Justice Sanfey has put the matter in for mention next Tuesday (January 12) and a hearing date will be set at this time.

D.J. Histon

The ICC was before the High Court today (January 4) seeking leave to progress a Judicial Review concerning the decision of the Minister for Health to exclude the activity of coursing from SI 695/2020 and SI 701/2020 on December 24 2020 and December 31 2020 respectively. 

Coursing was permitted under SI 560/2020 enacted on December 1 2020 and without consultation, notice or explanation it was not included on the revised SI 695/2020 issued on December 24 2020 or SI 701/2020 issued on December 31 2020.   On December 24 2020 the ICC immediately sought an explanation from two Government Departments but no response has been received to date.

The judge has granted leave to the ICC for a Judicial Review and the matter is returnable this Friday, January 8th for the hearing of an injunction to permit the remainder of the coursing season to take place.  The club wish to establish the reason as to why coursing was removed from the statutory instrument when comparable sports were retained, while all bodies operated under strict Covid-19 protocols, as did coursing.

An update will be posted on this website following Friday’s hearing.

With every passing year the greyhound industry faces a different challenge and this appears to be the case for some time now. The year 2020 has certainly presented some significant challenges and all have been met with resilience, determination and focus by all participants in the greyhound industry.

Covid-19 has presented a serious challenge to people’s health, livelihoods and way of life within and outside the greyhound community. The coursing community has faced the same challenge and has played its part in complying with all Covid-19 protocols and government guidelines while attending coursing meetings during Level 3 and was equally ready to do the same under the current Level 5. That opportunity has not arisen to date as the ICC, though named as an exempted activity on SI 560/2020, was removed from the amended SI 695/2020 that was published on December 24 just prior to its enactment at 3pm. The singular exclusion of the ICC and the continued inclusion of three comparable bodies has left many unanswered questions, huge frustration, annoyance and disbelief among all coursing supporters. The ICC immediately contacted the Department of Agriculture and the Department of An Taoiseach for clarity as to why coursing was now excluded, more particular when it was represented to the ICC that once we were included on SI 560/2020, we were covered for future levels but no response was received to date.
The Executive Committee has worked non-stop over the Christmas period to progress our case and to that end has engaged Senior Counsel to vigorously pursue the matter on behalf of all coursing people to establish the rationale for such a decision and to advocate for the rights of coursing people to be treated fairly, equitably and with dignity and this includes going before the Courts to vindicate our rights.

In addition to Covid-19, coursing has had to deal with the RHD2 virus for two consecutive seasons. (The ICC presented a very comprehensive submission countering the current licence conditions and this is under the remit of the recently established Licencing Committee of the ICC). This has resulted in a number of clubs being prevented from coursing at their respective venues as they resided within the exclusion zone. However it did not prevent them from availing of support from their fellow clubs to host events on their behalf to ensure the tradition of each club continued and qualifiers for the National Meeting were produced.

The ICC was unable to hold its National AGM or Provincial AGMs during the year and this denied its members an opportunity to meet up and discuss the future and debate the issues of the day. The Executive Committee welcome the time when it is safe to hold such meetings again and bring coursing people together to plan for our future and with the help of a national Covid-19 vaccination programme, this may be sooner rather than later.
During the year, Provincial Nominees were duly elected onto the Executive Committee and numerous sub-committees were established with the ability to co-opt expertise when necessary, to manage specific areas under the coursing umbrella and the subsidiaries of the ICC.

Our Sporting Press readers and advertisers have continued to support the paper but we must acknowledge that with the surge of business for An Post and the closure of the Little Island sorting office in Cork, subscription deliveries are erratic and continually late. Despite our best efforts, it has not been resolved. As this issue is outside our control, we are developing an on-line version of the paper to ensure ease of timely access, so bear with us please.

While much of what I have covered highlights the present difficulties, I have no doubt that we do have a brighter future and rather than let others dictate what that may look like, the ICC’s focus is firmly on protecting the sport of coursing and promoting a future that will instill confidence by developing the necessary strategies to bring us to a better place. In the meantime, we will continue to work with our political representatives that have supported us now and in the past in a professional manner to bring about the required changes.

I wish all participants in the greyhound industry and your families a brighter and more positive 2021.

D.J. Histon
CEO/Secretary
Irish Coursing Club

On Christmas Eve, the Government decided not to include coursing as an exempted activity without any explanation as to why we are the only activity removed from SI 650 of 2020.There appears to be little appreciation of what resources and organising is involved in preparing for a coursing meeting. The ICC set out clearly the reasons why coursing should continue similar to other comparable activities in terms of Covid-19 but we are unaware of any objective proportionate reasons as to why other comparable activities are permitted and coursing is not.

This is clearly disconcerting for clubs in the first instance and greyhound owners secondly, that have complied fully with all Covid-19 protocols after enduring limited opportunity to run their greyhounds since the commencement of the season. The ICC is self-funding and it appears there is little appreciation of this fact and that we are not in a position to offer a care package similar to other State Bodies. As an interim measure, the Executive Committee decided to waive coursing mating cert fees and coursing litter declaration fees as part of a more comprehensive suite of measures to be announced going forward.

Currently, we are left with the unanswered question as to why coursing was removed from the statutory instrument that is permitting other comparable activities. The much-anticipated St Stephens Day coursing meetings, due in no small part to the herculean effort by club members, are now in abeyance, as are those due to commence over subsequent days. Coursing has been let down in a serious way and this is not to belittle the current rise in Covid-19, it is merely to highlight that the risks associated with the continuance of coursing are no greater than other comparable sports, more particular, when we only have nine weeks remaining until the end of the season.

The Executive Committee is invoking all means possible to remedy the matter on your behalf.

I will update you further on Tuesday.

D.J. Histon

CEO/Secretary

I wish to update coursing club members, owners, trainers, sponsors and supporters, of the amended legislation dealing with exempted sporting activities during Covid-19 Level 5 that is effective from December 24 at 3pm.

On December 2, Coursing was included on SI 560 of 2020 and this legislation is now amended in the form of SI 695 of 2020, resulting in coursing not being permitted as the country enters Level 5 status.

The ICC Executive is seeking clarity in respect of this amendment given the rationale for inclusion on the original SI has not changed.   This query is being addressed to the Department of An Taoiseach and the Department of Agriculture.

With deep regret, this means the Christmas/New Year calendar of events cannot take place as scheduled and no netting of hares will take place in compliance with legislation.

I will update you further when more information is to hand.

In the meantime, I wish you and your families a peaceful and safe Christmas.

D.J. Histon