The Irish Coursing Club (ICC) has today (Monday, January 25) lost its High Court challenge against the government decision to exclude hare coursing from being permitted under Level 5 Covid-19 restrictions. The ICC was before the High Court seeking to overturn Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly’s decision to exclude the activity from the revised statutory instrument. On December 1, hare coursing was included in S.I. 560/2020 of the Health Act 1947 (Section 31A – Temporary Restrictions) (Covid-19) Regulations 2020. This legislation is now amended, resulting in coursing not being permitted under the Level 5 status of the country since Christmas Eve. One of the first to strongly respond to today’s news is the Campaign for the Abolition of Cruel Sports, who said it found “the breathtakingly selfish and arrogant stance adopted by the ICC obnoxious in the extreme”.