About
Who We Are and Why We Are Here
Who is FACE Ireland
The voice of Ireland's rural countryside pursuits
FACE Ireland is the Irish arm of the European Federation for Hunting and Conservation, known as FACE — the largest democratically representative body for hunters in Europe and one of the largest civil society organisations on the continent.
Founded in 1977 and headquartered in Brussels, FACE represents over 7 million hunters across 37 European countries, including all 27 EU member states. FACE has been a member of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) since 1987, a membership that reflects its long-standing commitment to sustainable use, biodiversity conservation, and evidence-based wildlife management.[1]
Source: face.eu
In Ireland, FACE Ireland brings together the associations and clubs that represent hunting with hounds, game shooting, hare coursing, deer management, falconry, greyhound breeding and other rural countryside pursuits.
What we do
Representing rural Ireland where it matters
FACE Ireland advocates for Ireland's rural countryside community with politicians, policymakers, and media. We make the case that rural pursuits are not simply recreational activities but an integral part of the Irish rural economy, rural community life, and the responsible management of the Irish countryside.
We work to ensure that decisions affecting rural pursuits in Ireland are made on the basis of evidence, not assumption, and that the voice of rural communities is heard clearly in every forum where those decisions are made.
Rural Footprint
Rural Footprint — the evidence campaign commissioned by FACE Ireland
Rural Footprint is a campaign and data-gathering project commissioned by FACE Ireland. Its purpose is to capture a clear, consistent, and independently verified picture of what each rural countryside pursuit contributes to Ireland — economically, socially, and environmentally.
Through a series of structured surveys covering each rural pursuit, Rural Footprint gathers evidence from the people at the heart of these activities — clubs, participants, landowners, employers, businesses, and communities. The aggregated findings are analysed at national, county, and constituency level and published openly.
The findings give FACE Ireland the evidence it needs to engage politicians, brief media, and make the case for rural communities at every level of public debate in Ireland, North and South.
Phase 1 of the survey is now open for hunting with hounds and terriers. Further surveys will follow for shooting and conservation, hare coursing, greyhound racing and breeding, and falconry.
Two kinds of information, kept apart
Research responses to the Rural Footprint survey are anonymous. They do not ask for your name, address or contact details, and findings are published only as aggregated national, county and sector results — never as individual responses.
Contact details you choose to give separately — for example when making an enquiry — are held apart from the research data, are never linked to any survey response, and are used only for the purpose you gave them.