Within the constant attempts to cause separation and discourse across our countryside, there’s a continued rhetoric from anti-rural elements that hunting is outdated, damaging and is no longer welcomed by farmers, landowners and wider countryside communities. This is a rhetoric so often deployed that some politicians appear to regard it as an established fact. However, yet again the countryside has calmly and effectively proven this misinformation to be fundamentally untrue.
The latest united stand was just last week, rallied not by a hunting organisation nor the Countryside Alliance Ireland, but by the Ulster Farmers Union (UFU), as they requested a renewal of their longstanding memorandum of understanding (MOU) between farmers and hunts. When the UFU asked for continued support and guidance from Countryside Alliance Ireland, we were only too happy to stand alongside them and the Northern Ireland Master of Hounds Association to demonstrate and put to paper again the shared interests, trust and cooperation that have played out between farmers and hunts for generations.
The renewed memorandum of understanding will come into effect from 2027 and is far more than a mere access agreement; it is an updated, modernised moral and working contract for the countryside, built on the long-standing partnership between farmers and hunts. At its core it stands true to the priority that landowners must always retain the final say over how they wish to manage their own land, while appreciating the vital work carried out by hunts for landowners who engage their services. For farmers, that relationship can provide valuable support through predator control and wildlife management, livestock protection and the practical fallen-stock service that hunt kennels provide. The strength of the new MOU is that it formalises mutual dependence and trust: farmers retain choice and control, while hunts gain a clearer and more secure framework under which to operate, benefitting both parties.
The renewal of the MOU comes at a significant time, as we see continued restrictions to agriculture, with emphases on how farmers are allowed to manage their own land. We can see clear examples of this in the proposed Nutrient Action Programmes, the complete failure from Stormont to act on the ever-rising cases of TB, or in DAERA’s recent abhorrent intervention at Fivemiletown, where they took it upon themselves to cull 51 perfectly healthy cattle. Meanwhile hunts are facing John Blair MLA’s proposed Hunting with Dogs Bill, which has entered Committee Stage, with evidence for its continued debate gathered from the public over the last few weeks.
However, while Stormont’s engagement in countryside matters is vital, it is the actions that take place outside of the political realm that demonstrate the true reality, which in this case is that of a functioning and working countryside that thrives not in isolation, but as an interconnected body of farmers and the hunts.
At a time when both hunting and farming are under political pressure, the renewed MOU is a statement of rural unity, necessity and strength. It shows that farming and hunting are not separate interests competing for the same countryside, but long-standing partners who rely on one another and are strongest when they work together. Old values of countryside management have not been replaced, but modernised for the benefit of hunts, farmers and our countryside, ensuring a shared foundation for its future success.
The renewed MOU demonstrates a powerful example of what rural communities have always done, which is to work together, support one another and remain dedicated to their custodianship of the countryside. It is a lesson in shared interests, trust and cooperation, and one Stormont should pay close attention to – perhaps even learn from.
Access the Countryside Alliance Ireland, Northern Ireland Masters of Hounds Association and Ulster Farmers’ Union Memorandum of Understanding and Co-operation here.