THE SINN FÉIN Ard Fheis has voted in favour of “strong regulation” of hare coursing, after a series of motions calling for an outright ban of the practice were raised at the party’s annual conference.

The party heard extended debate for and against the matter, including speakers who said that hares are a species of international importance protected under wildlife acts.

Several speakers called for an all-Ireland ban on hare coursing. Hare coursing has been illegal in Northern Ireland since 2003.

However, other delegates said an outright ban would cause negative outcomes for candidates in upcoming local elections.

• The Noteworthy team wants to investigate the key animal welfare concerns in the hare coursing industry. Support this project here.

Some speakers opposed any proposed ban and called for the ard fheis to recognise the party’s support for “country sports” and “rural culture”.

One motion stated that lawful country sports such as shooting, fishing, hunting, and coursing are “safe, well run and good for the economy”.

It also called for Sinn Féin to be a “champion for legal field sports and rural Ireland”.

Supporting a ban, Senator Lynn Boylan said there was nothing inherently rural about hare coursing as she criticised those who “get their kicks out of watching a defenceless hare run for its life”.

She also supported a motion to ban live fox hunting with horses and hounds was also proposed.

Boylan said the practice was a “relic of our colonised past”.

The Ard Chomhairle motion said an outright ban on “traditional rural occupations such as hunting and hare coursing” would drive these practices underground.

Instead, it said they should be strongly regulated and that alternatives such as drag hunting and lure coursing should be promoted and incentivised.

It called for Government departments to establish a commission of experts to examine and recommend appropriate regulations.

The passing of this motion meant subsequent proposed motions for and against the practices of coursing and fox hunting were not voted upon.

Elsewhere, the Ard Fheis also committed to redrafting drugs policy if a working group on the findings of the recent Citizens’ Assembly deems it necessary, as it failed to pass a motion supporting the decriminalisation of cannabis possession.

It passed a motion from the Ard Chomhairle on drug policy which called for an all-island approach to address issues of addiction and recovery.

The motion said the party’s drug policy should be further an approach to drug addiction that is “compassionate, health-oriented and human-rights-based”.

It said policy should tackle socio-economic inequalities that put “individuals and communities at risk of addiction”, by enhancing public housing and public health provision, education outcomes, employment opportunities and community development.

It said the criminal justice system should be supported to effectively tackle organised crime and the supply of illicit drugs.

It committed to establishing a working group to consider the outcomes of the Citizens Assembly on Drugs Use and re-draft policy in light of those outcomes if necessary.

It meant that a separate motion which would have called on any future Sinn Féin government to decriminalise the possession of personal quantities of cannabis to automatically failed.

That motion called for the rescheduling of cannabis from an illegal drug to one which was designated a controlled medicinal product.

By extension it would have called for the possibility of creating a regulated market for cannabis.

The party also passed a series of motions on disability rights as well as votes on supporting community policing and voicing total opposition to the British government’s Legacy Act.

The Ard Fheis also voted in favour of the “initiation of diplomatic dialogues” with the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Mexico to advocate for the restoration of travel rights for former political prisoners and their families.