Illegal hunting: Call for 'armed response unit in every county'
A candidate at last year's general election and European election has called for an armed response unit to be established in every county to deal with illegal hunting and farmers being threatened with violence.
Eddie Punch, the former general secretary of the Irish Cattle and Sheep Farmers' Association (ICSA), was speaking after meeting with several farmers in west Co. Clare.
These farmers have been subject to threatening behaviour and comments from individuals who come onto their land, usually for the purpose of hunting hares using lurcher dogs.
Punch said that he met with some 30 impacted farmers, but that there is "no limit" to the amount of farmers who may be affected.
"Certainly I met about 30. It could be into the hundreds of farmers and landowners really around these places," he said.
Speaking to Agriland, he cited some examples of this threatening behaviour, including a man being surrounded in his Jeep by a group of men with sticks and being told to get out of the Jeep. Punch said the farmer felt he would be "beat up or worse" if he left the vehicle.
Other incidents, according to Punch, include intruders pointing to their pockets as though to indicate they had a gun. Some farmers were told by the intruders that they know where the farmer lives and that their homes would be burned.
"Where I met these farmers in Liscannor, which is more or less next to the Cliffs of Moher, they kind of thought they'd be thrown into the sea."
Punch also highlighted the impact of the presence of dogs, with some farmers who live in coastal area concerned their livestock will be forced into the water.
He said that garda resources are "scarce" in west Clare, and that the impacted farmers feel that "everything is stacked against the law-abiding citizen".
He cited an incident where a dog was confiscated from one intruder and returned the next day.
"There is a general sense that...nothing could be done, [the gardaí] couldn’t get out there in time.
"There is a kind of sense that it is not being taken seriously enough and that, in fairness to the gardaí, judges then going soft on these people. These guys know the rules and they know what they can get away with," he added.
The former election candidate said the impacted farmers in the region are coming together to support each other.
"They’re trying to help each other with a kind of community cohesion and they would be keeping each other briefed, and if any of them were under pressure or had some dodgy lads on his farm then a bunch of them would come immediately to be with him," he said.
"West Clare lads are hardy. These west Clare lads wouldn’t be soft, so they would come together to stand up against them.
"[The farmers] feel they have to be prepared for the worst when dealing with these guys," Punch said.
He added: "You wouldn't feel like going down to these guys with your hands in your pockets."
"There's a real sense that when gardaí come to deal with these lads, [they] don't care about the gardaí because they are more dangerous than the gardaí. You're sending out someone whose armed with nothing more than a notebook and a pencil," he said.
"I like the idea in some kind of innocent way that our gardaí are not armed...We prefer the idea of community policing here in Ireland. To a certain extent there is a lot of merit in that.
"What I’m saying is not necessarily every garda should be armed, but I'm saying that in the times we live in, the ordinary garda, maybe a 24-year-old fresh out of Templemore, should not be sent out on their own, or should have the backup of an armed response unit," Punch commented.
"Every county should have an armed response unit to back up gardaí when they are dealing with people who are known to be dangerous," he said.
Punch also said that part of the issue is in the legal system, and this was raised by some of the farmers he met.
"The follow up from that is someone on 67 previous convictions getting off yet again and being given another chance, and getting free legal aid forever. There is a frustration about that.
"If you get into some sort of altercation and it ends up in court, you'll spend a fortune as the farmer paying for legal representation, and on the other hand these lads will all have free legal aid," he said.
Punch added: "There has to be a sense that if you keep getting brought up in front of the courts, this has to escalate in terms of you just don't keep walking out of court through the revolving door.
