19/09/2024
🔊 Shooting organisations in Northern Ireland link up with counterparts in RoI🔊
In a groundbreaking move, the main shooting and country sports organisations from Northern Ireland have linked up with their counterparts in the Republic of Ireland (RoI) to share expertise and experience on fi****ms-related issues.
The Northern Ireland Fi****ms Representative Group (NIFRG), recently met with their counterpart in the south, the Fi****ms Users Representative Group (FURG), during which both organisations committed to an ongoing process of cooperation and engagement.
The two organisations have agreed to meet face to face annually, and hold online meetings at least twice a year, or more frequently if issues crop up that require a co-ordinated response.
The NIFRG, comprising ten shooting and countryside organisations, was formed in May 2021 in response to deep-rooted concerns regarding the Police Service of Northern Ireland’s Fi****ms and Explosive’s Branch (PSNI FEB). The group is chaired by the British Association for Shooting and Conservation (BASC) with the Secretariat provided by Country Sports Ireland (CSI).
The Fi****ms Users Representative Group (FURG) consists of fifteen organisations, and was formed in July 2022, to coordinate the shooting communities’ response to draconian proposals emanating from the Irish government’s Fi****ms Expert Committee (FEC). The group is chaired by the National Association of Regional Game Councils (NARGC) with the secretariat provided by the Deer Alliance (DA).
Some organisations operate on an all-Ireland basis and are therefore members of both the NIFRG and the FURG, bringing the total number of organisations represented to twenty-three.
Speaking after the meeting, an NIFRG spokesperson said: “We welcome and appreciate the opportunity to meet with the FURG in the Republic, to share our considerable expertise and experience. We have witnessed firsthand the benefits of multiple organisations coming and working closely together under the NIFRG umbrella, to help drive policy change and successfully oppose unnecessary restrictions that were not evidence based.”
A FURG spokesperson said: “We welcome the opportunity to host the NIFRG and we regard this meeting as a major first step, in developing a strong mutually beneficial partnership, that will allow us to harness the power of our collective membership bases, to robustly meet the many challenges that lie ahead in both jurisdictions.”
The NIFRG is an umbrella body which consists of ten, national and local representative shooting and countryside membership organisations:
• Country Sports Ireland (CSI)
• Countryside Alliance Ireland (CAI)
• The British Association for Shooting and Conservation (BASC)
• The British Deer Society (BDS NI)
• The NI Fi****ms Dealers’ Association (NIFDA)
• The NI Practical Shooting Confederation (NIPSC)
• The NI Small-bore Shooting Association (NISSA).
• The Scottish Association for Country Sports (SACs)
• The Ulster Clay Pigeon Shooting Association (UCPSA)
• The Ulster Rifle Association (URA)
The FURG consists of 15 shooting and countryside organisations:
• Country Sports Ireland
• Countryside Alliance Ireland
• Deer Alliance HCAP
• FACE Ireland
• Irish Clay Target Shooting Association
• Irish Country Sports Association
• Irish Deer Commission
• Irish Deer Society
• Irish Fi****ms Dealers Association
• Irish Natura Hill Farmers Association
• Midlands National Shooting Centre of Ireland
• National Association of Regional Game Councils,
• National Association of Sporting Rifle & Pistol Clubs
• Precision Rifles Ireland
• Wild Deer Association of Ireland
