Coursing fans consider the venue at Ballinagoul, Glin a “state of the art” coursing field, with its picturesque location that offers a pleasant view of the River Shannon.



Locals who have complained about the lack of planning permission and the disruption to their lives caused by the hare coursing activities on their doorstep believe their concerns are being ignored by the Council.



The coursing venue was opened two years ago with much pomp and ceremony, with a local priest officially blessing the field.



So, not only do coursing clubs snatch hares from their natural environment for use as live bait. They also appear to consider themselves above the law by not applying for planning permission, and then ignoring an enforcement order from Limerick County Council.



Glin Coursing Club is now applying for retention on the grounds that this field is primarily for “agricultural use”, grazing cattle and sheep and so forth, and they even claim in the planning application that they bought the field for the benefit of the whole community.



This coursing field clearly belongs to Glin coursing club and its primary purpose is to facilitate is hare coursing events.



The retention decision is due on October 25th. Hopefully Limerick County Council will reject this bogus planning retention application.



The club has already held this year's coursing event, causing immense inconvenience and disruption for locals in the vicinity and another coursing event is scheduled for November 4th and 5th, with Galway and Oranmore Coursing Cub having been invited to stage their annual fixture on the same County Limerick venue.



We have received correspondence by email from Glin residents about this issue. Here is what one local woman (she lives very near the Glin coursing venue) said in an email to me:



“…We are very concerned about what is happening outside our front door. I have tried on several occasions to find out from the council why they haven't acted on the enforcement letter but am getting no reply. The club have applied for retention of planning for a shed that was built last year. The shed is for hares not livestock. They have all kinds of fencing up and gaps opened on the road, getting away with it as they say it's for agricultural purpose. Coursing was last weekend and there must of been upwards on 600 people up and down this quiet country road. I found out the other day a crowd from Galway are coming here in a few weeks to have their meeting here as well. Not to lead you astray we are very sporting people, I have no interest in coursing but really had no concerns when they purchased the field. I thought they would have their coursing and the field would be put back to normal when it was over. I had no idea they would put up permanent fixtures. We have no contact with the club as they know our position. We have tried on couple of occasions last year to come to an agreement with them but they never followed thru. We were just looking for advice on how to deal with this situation. we didn't object because we have 3 children and there is bad feeling between ourselves and several members of the club and we didn't want our names up on the council's website. I will forward on copy of enforcement notice and the planning application is 15676 on council's website. You can see on Glin coursing's facebook page pictures of hare complex. They have said in their planning application that shed is for lambing. I would appreciate your feedback, thank you."



Further background details:

You can check a Limerick Leader story (link below) about the coursing field which makes it quite clear that it's Glin coursing club's field, and that its use is intended for hare coursing, and the sheds etc. are slipper's hut and hare boxing area, not for rearing small animals as stated in the club’s planning application.



 http://www.limerickleader.ie/news/community/glin-coursing-club-s-new-field-of-dreams-a-beauty-1-4996352



The application for retention was made on 31 August, under the name of John Barrett, Ballynagoul, Glin, ref. no. 15676 and is due for decision on 25th October. Glin coursing club's facebook page displays shows pictures of the venue:

 https://www.facebook.com/Glin-Coursing-158202197539968/timeline/

Campaigners against hare coursing are determined that Glin Coursing Club does not get away with its outrageous behaviour and we challenge the Irish Coursing Club (ICC) to which the Glin club is affiliated to disown and censure this club immediately. The ICC will lose even more credibility if it fails act against Glin Coursing Club.