Coursing may not resume during Level 5 Covid-19 restrictions, judge rules

The Irish Coursing Club (ICC) has failed to secure a High Court injunction that would have allowed coursing to resume during the current Covid-19 restrictions.

In a judgment on Monday, Ms Justice Niamh Hyland said she was not satisfied to grant the club an injunction that would have seen coursing resume.

The order was sought pending the outcome of judicial review proceedings brought by the club after the Government delisted coursing as a permitted activity during the latest Level 5 restrictions.

Ms Justice Hyland said she accepted at least some of the grounds advanced by the club were “sufficiently strong”. These included whether Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly was obliged to consult with other Minsters before deciding to exclude coursing from a list of permitted activities.

However, the court lacks jurisdiction to grant what would be a mandatory injunction directing the Minister to allow coursing to resume, the judge held.

The granting of an injunction would be effectively asking the Minister to ignore matters relating to the risk of Covid-19, and to act outside his powers, the judge said.

‘Usurp’

She said the injunction would “usurp the exclusive function of the Oireachtas”, in circumstances where the court has no public health qualifications nor public health advices available to it, and where the court “is not democratically elected”.

Even if the court had such a power, the balance of convenience, and the risk of injustice dictates the court should not grant the injunction, the judge added.

The court had put sufficient weight on the severity of the current Covid-19 situation and the need for the current regime to be left “undisturbed” in circumstances where the entire Cabinet took a decision that only the sports identified should be permitted to go ahead.

The judge further added that she had to take into account the State’s expert medical evidence regarding the risk involved to public health if coursing was allowed resume. A significant number of people, including two handlers for each dog, as well as stewards and security personnel, are involved in the running of a coursing meeting, the court noted.

The court fully accepted evidence that the ICC had made strenuous efforts to be Covid-19 compliant in any of its events prior to Christmas. However, she said the granting of a mandatory injunction “could entail a risk to life”.

Granting the injunction would have allowed 36 coursing meetings to go ahead during Level 5 with potentially 3,000 people attending, she said.

Losses

The court noted the possible financial losses for breeders and trainers due to the cancellation of meetings. When the risk to public health and life caused by Covid-19 was taken into account the balance of convenience favoured dismissing the injunction application, she concluded.

The ICC brought proceedings over the Government’s decision last month not to include coursing on a list of activities permitted during the current restrictions. The challenge against the Minister’s decision to delist coursing as a permitted activity will now proceed to a full hearing, no date for which has been set.

It is unlikely that the full hearing to be determined before the end of next month when the coursing season would normally conclude.