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THE DÁIL’S DECISION to block legislation banning foxhunting with dogs has damaged public confidence in politics, according to a new poll.
The RED C survey found that 73% of people believe the bloodsport should be banned, compared with just 14% who oppose it.
Opposition against the practice is also strong in rural Ireland, where 68% favour a ban, contradicting claims made during a Dáil debate that foxhunting is a “rural tradition” with broad countryside backing.
When respondents who answered “don’t know” are excluded, opposition to foxhunting rises to 77%, suggesting resistance is even more decisive among voters with a settled view.
The poll, commissioned by campaign group Stand With Badgers, was conducted weeks after December’s Dáil vote and shows widespread concern about how the issue was handled.
Almost half of respondents agreed that party politics overruled the will of the public, while only a minority disagreed, with the remainder unsure.
Seventy-two per cent of respondents said TDs should be free to vote according to their conscience on animal-welfare issues, rising to 84% when undecided respondents are excluded.
Sixty per cent said the use of the party whip on moral or ethical matters undermines trust in politicians, increasing to 87% once “don’t knows” are removed.
The poll also raises concerns about future voter disengagement, with two in five respondents stating they would be less likely to vote if legislation supported by a clear public majority is blocked or shut down.
Ruairí Ó Leocháin of Stand With Badgers said the results revealed a clear gap between public opinion and political decision-making on animal welfare.
“These results suggest a clear disconnect between public opinion and political process on animal welfare, with strong support for both a ban on foxhunting with dogs and greater parliamentary independence on ethical issues,” he told The Journal.
Foxhunting with dogs is not a tradition – it is a cruel and deliberate blood sport.
“Behind the public spectacle lies routine destruction, including the displacement of protected wildlife.
He added: “Rural Ireland is tired of being falsely portrayed as supportive of this violence and rejects the suffering it inflicts on wildlife and the countryside alike.”
The poll, carried out last month, follows a defeated Private Members’ Bill that sought to outlaw foxhunting with dogs.
The Animal Health and Welfare Bill 2025, spearheaded by Solidarity TD Ruth Coppinger, would have prohibited the use of canines to hunt or flush out foxes and prohibit trapping or snaring of the foxes in order to kill them.
It would not have outlawed the shooting of foxes on one’s land for the purpose of protecting livestock.
Some 124 TDs voted against the ban, while 24 voted in favour.
Following the vote, Coppinger said it showed that certain political parties are out of step with the public, and that some TDs were “wilfully misinterpreting” the Bill.
Junior Minister Michael Healy-Rae, who was among many rural politicians who opposed the ban, called the Bill a “con job”, and rounded on members of the opposition, who he said were “misleading” the public.
The Kerry TD argued that fox hunting is part of the “management of rural Ireland”, and that farmers would incur financial losses if it’s outlawed.
The latest opinion poll on the issue was carried out among 1,037 adults aged 18 and over, with quota controls and statistical weighting applied across age, gender, region and social class to reflect the Irish population in line with CSO estimates.
A previous RED C survey on live hare coursing found that around three-quarters of the public supported a ban, with little difference between urban and rural respondents.
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Patricia Devlin is an investigative reporter with The Journal Investigates.
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