Nine Irish MEPs have voted in favour of a ban on lead ammunition in wetland areas. The vote paves the way for a directive which will force farmers to replace their guns at considerable personal expense.

A total of 362 MEPs voted in favour of the ban out of a total 693 participants.

Just two Irish MEPs, Fianna Fáil’s Billy Kelleher and Sinn Féin’s Chris McManus voted against the ban.

Needless costs

The National Association of Regional Game Councils (NARGC) has labelled the move a disaster.

“Our own MEPs have paved the path for a directive which will cost us close to €500m to replace guns needlessly,” chair of the NARGC Dan Curley said.

“We could see this directive in place as early as December 2022.”

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Lead ban is discriminatory toward farmers - IFA