Clonmel plays host to the National Coursing Festival this weekend.
The annual event at Powerstown Park draws large crowds and is seen as a major economic boost for the area.
However it also draws significant opposition from anti-blood sport campaigners who have sought to have the practice banned.
Members of the Campaign for the Abolition of Cruel Sports will continue their efforts to have the sport banned as it has been in Northern Ireland
A protest is planned for outside the venue on the N24 between 12pm and 2pm this afternoon.
Spokesman John Fitzgerald says there are alternatives to live coursing which would still bring a benefit to Clonmel:
“We’ve found over the years that many people in Clonmel town for example are opposed to coursing. Now maybe if you’re a guesthouse owner or a hotelier you might look at it in a business way but I think even within towns and areas where you have coursing a lot of people are opposed to it.”
He believes there are other alternatives:
“You could have ‘drag coursing’ and that might still attract many people to Clonmel. People don’t need to watch a live animal running for its life – that’s the way that we would see it.”
