Republic of Ireland firearms holders: Take action now!

You should by now be aware that the Firearm Expert Committee (FEC) has issued their report despite the fact that no proper stakeholder engagement was undertaken by the Minister around this matter, or that FURG members requested to be part of the process on a number of occasions.

There are quite a few elements in the report that Countryside Alliance Ireland feels are seriously flawed, which would limit our sports considerably.

It is also worrying that in this case, the authorities went down this road with such vigour and no regard for the shooting community.

The Police Service of Northern Ireland’s Firearms and Explosives Branch (FEB) comes up frequently in the report when it suited their narrative. We must bear in mind that the FEB are in the middle of a critical incident and cannot provide a decent service to firearms holders. A situation that will take years, not months, to address.

While the make-up of the FEC has changed on several occasions, and numerous individuals not appointed to the original FEC have attended its meetings and expressed opinion, none of the firearms user groups or representative organisations of the almost 250,000 firearms licensees in the Republic of Ireland have to date been consulted, whether that be directly or indirectly on the matters under consideration by the FEC. Furthermore, the Minister has not responded in any meaningful way to representations made on his early promises to consult with stakeholders.

Countryside Alliance Ireland is asking that all firearms holders write to local politicians and go on record to say that what has happened isn’t good enough, and is quite insulting. We had no choice but to conclude that by excluding our representatives was quite obviously an attack on our sport as confirmed in the reports themselves.

Contact details for Ministers can be found here and the FEC reports can be found here.