ALTHOUGH the past three years have been tough financially for each of the 42 hunt clubs comprising the Irish Masters of Foxhounds Association (IMFHA), we are all looking forward to the 2024/2025 season.

Since its inception in 1859, the IMFHA has had the good fortune to be led and supported by some of the best and most knowledgeable foxhunters. The current chairman, Lord Waterford, is no exception. Not only does he come from a long line of dedicated foxhunters, but his life experiences in sport, business and farming, coupled with his quiet and gentlemanly style, distinguish him as an exceptional chairman over these turbulent times.

In his role, Lord Waterford is supported by Billy Healy MFH as vice-chairman, with Mrs Verity O’Mahony (former MFH, Co Laois) as honorary secretary and Mrs Martina McGrath MFH as honorary treasurer. The committee comprise an eclectic team of professionals drawn from North and South of the border. To the committee they bringing their expertise in media, consultancy, agri-business, politics, finance and the legal profession. In today’s world where the IMFHA has to deal with a variety of legal and regulatory issues, it is vitally important that committee members have the qualifications, skills and experience necessary to run a national sporting body.

On the board of the NHSPFS, the IMFHA is currently represented by Mrs Kate Jarvey (former MFH, Duhallow) and Pat Dillon (former MFH Meath). In addition, the IMFHA is working on other sub-committees with our colleagues in the Irish Masters of Harriers Association and the Ward Union Hunt for the overall sustainability of hunting.

There are changes and challenges ahead, especially as we moved from manual-based systems to the use of Apps. Apps can now be used when paying your sub, booking a day’s hunting or paying your cap/field money. We cannot shy away from new technological developments especially where they will be to the long-term benefit of a hunt club in terms of managing the money, compliance with insurance requirements and general good governance.

Strong contacts

Over the past year the IMFHA committee has been very busy developing guidelines for social media use in the hunting field, engaging with Tusla and the Hunting Association of Ireland on safeguarding, meeting members of hunts’ staff at a national level and continuing to maintain its strong contacts with politicians and government.

Caitriona Conlon-Dempsey MH and Michael Lennon MFH have done tremendous work on behalf of the Hunting Association of Ireland and recently distributed their set of Guidelines for Safeguarding based on information from Horse Sport Ireland (HSI).

The introduction of the IMFHA’s newsletter was met with great applause and a third issue should be out before November. It is hoped to produce the newsletter at least three times a year but we are greatly dependent upon hunt secretaries to distribute it to hunt club members in a timely manner.

At present members of the IMFHA committee are engaged in kennel visits and, as the autumn approaches, the IMFHA will be represented at the AGMs and subsequent meetings of FACE (Ireland) and the Hunting Association of Ireland. In October, Ireland will host an international meeting of leaders in the sport of foxhunting. The principal focus of these gatherings is to mobilise against the creep of restrictive anti-hunting legislation and to discuss the latest intelligence on the animal rights movement internationally.

Finally, we must acknowledge the trojan work performed on a voluntary basis by the various masters of hounds, hunt chairmen, secretaries, treasurers and hunt committees up, down and across the country, for without their unselfish dedication to duty, our hunt clubs would not survive. We live in an altogether different world today than that which existed 50 years or so ago, but we are still hunting and many hunt clubs are getting in new and younger members. Together, young and old, we will ensure that this coming season is the best ever and that foxhunting continues to flourish through the island of Ireland.