New chairman for NI Assembly’s All Party Group on Country Sports

The NI Assembly’s All Party Group on Country Sports has a newly appointed chairman.

Pasty McGlone (SDLP) was elected chairman during the group’s Annual General Meeting which was held recently at Stormont.

Speaking after the meeting, Mr McGlone said: "I am delighted to have been elected chairman of the All Party Group on Country Sports. Not only do I have a significant interest in country sports, I am also a keen practitioner and therefore well aware of the specific difficulties that shooters and firearms dealers face in their dealings with both the PSNI’s Firearms and Explosives Branch and the Department of Justice. I am committed to working with the other members of the group and the representative organisations to give them and their members a voice in the NI Assembly. Shooting and Conservation play a very significant role in managing our wildlife and our countryside and that role must be recognised at all levels of government. Shooting also contributes £28 million pounds annually to the Northern Ireland economy."

Tommy Mayne, director of BASC NI said: "I am delighted that BASC has been elected to provide the secretariat for the All Party Group and my team and I look forward to working with the newly appointed chairman, the other members of the group and partner organisations to develop, foster, promote and protect country sports in Northern Ireland".

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