THURSDAY 24th JUNE.....a DEMO OUTSIDE THE DAIL......7 - 9pm
WEDNESDAY 30th JUNE.....DEMO OUTSIDE THE DAIL.....all day
From the RISE WEBSITE....
Gormley lays down the gauntlet. RISE! responds
What is happening?
The Minister for the Environment, John Gormley TD, has laid down the gauntlet ‘big time’ to the RISE! Campaign.
The Campaign has decided on a series of initiatives to defeat his proposals and prevent him achieving his stated aim of bringing the Wildlife (Amendment) Bill and the Dog Breeding Establishments Bill into law before the middle of July.
Gormley has availed of the recent period of political uncertainty to start pushing his proposal through the Dáil and Seanad.
Wildlife (Amendment) Bill
Next Thursday 24th June at 7.30 pm the Dáil will begin debating the Bill to ban the Ward Union Hunt and to severely restrict deerstalking. It will come back to the Dáil on Wednesday, 30th June. The Taoiseach has backed Gormley to allow him to ‘guillotine’ the debate (that is, preventing TDs from speaking even if they want to) so that the Bill will be finished in the Dáil on Wednesday 30th. After that, it will go to the Seanad and it looks like Gormley and Cowen’s guillotine will be wielded there as well to get in passed in short order.
Dog Breeding Establishments Bill
The Seanad finally passed this Bill last Wednesday 16th June. It is now ready to go to the Dáil to be finalised. Gormley has bought off backbench Fianna Fáil opposition to the Bill by proposing a few weak amendments that are entirely unacceptable to RISE! and to all its affiliated organisations. Do not be conned by FF representatives telling you that ‘there are substantial amendments to the Dog Breeding Bill’.
Our response
RISE! is responding with a comprehensive and integrated series of initiatives, both public and private. These initiatives will highlight both the Wildlife Bill and the Dog Breeding Bill. They are set out below in the order in which they are happening.
Information Night, 8.30 pm Wednesday 23rd June, Simonstown GFC, county Meath
This has changed from being an Information Night into a show of strength to kick off this phase of our campaign. Prominent speakers from different backgrounds will show their support.
Demo outside the Dáil, 7 – 9pm, Thursday 24th June
To coincide with the start of the Dáil debate, there will be a demo outside the Dáil from 7pm to 9pm. Apart from lobbying TDs, this is important to achieve coverage on the TV and radio bulletins as well as in the newspapers the following day.
Major rally in Trim, county Meath, 12 Noon, Saturday 26th June
The people of Meath, Dublin and surrounding counties are invited to a rally in Trim to publicly demonstrate their support for an important part of their heritage, the Ward Union Hunt. For people and clubs that cannot attend, we want messages of support that can be read out from the platform
Demo outside the Dáil, all day, Wednesday 30th June
To coincide with the end of the Dáil debate, there will be a relay of RISE! supporters outside Leinster House while the Bill is being debated. Again, this puts moral pressure on the TDs and helps to gain media coverage.
County Information Nights
These will continue. More than twenty have been organised. Chec EXTERNAL LINK for updates
County Council motions
Eight councils have adopted motions supporting RISE! We will intensify our efforts until every county in the country is included.
Media
There will be a continuous, pro-active stream of media releases and briefings to the media – print and electronic – local and national. The aim is to get ahead of Gormley in media coverage and to stay ahead.
Apart from the public initiatives, there will be very important campaigning going on in private
Meeting TDs
We have a target group of FF TDs and Independents who will be met privately by people whom they know and respect.
E-mails to TDs
The e-mails to TDs are being well received and are having an effect. We need to step this up. If your association has not yet delivered on your quota of e-mail writers please do so immediately. The Campaign Office can offer technical assistance.
Deerstalking issue
The deerstalkers’ bodies will continue to highlight the fact that – for whatever reason – the Wildlife Bill proposes to criminalise their activities. Whatever ever about banning the Ward Union, it is important to stress to FF politicians that a clampdown on deerstalking is not covered by the Renegotiated Programme for Government.
Briefing Packs for TDs
Today, each TD will receive a comprehensive briefing pack on case against the Wildlife Bill. Senators will receive similar if and when the Bill goes to them. A briefing pack on the Dog Breeding Bill will be provided to TDs at the appropriate time.
Suggestions
If anyone has a suggestion about other initiatives that could be undertaken, please email them to info@risecampaign.ie and they will be brought to the attention of the RISE! Directors.
Funding
Good campaigning costs money. Enquire from the Campaign Office for details of how to support us in this regard.
Keep in touch!
We will issue regular updates on this phase of the campaign. Check our new web site for updates and make sure people know about it.
Together we can beat this. But we need to work hard and clever
