Load of bull! Petition to stop bullfighting coming to Kilkenny removed from activist site
By COLIN BARTLEY
AN online petition trying to stop a bullfighting ring being built in Kilkenny, which received over 33,000 signatures, has been removed from an activist website.
Change.org have removed the online petition that was set up following a spoof article on the website Meanwhile in Ireland, which suggested a bullfighting arena was set to open in the city.
The article, published in July, claimed the arena would be built beside ‘Nolan (Nowlan) Park’ as a joint project between Kilkenny County Council and Kilkenny GAA. It said the arena “would be used to teach Kilkenny hurlers the art of bullfighting as part of their training schedule”.
It quoted a fictional ‘Mayor of Kilkenny, Tommy O’Shea’ – who is also named on the petition – and also poked fun at the Cats’ All-Ireland final hurling defeat last month.
The author of the article wrote: “Although we seem to have lost that ‘killer instinct’ over the last few years, what better way to get it back than to have our senior squad do a bit of bullfighting? It can’t do them any harm.”
The article even jokingly quotes Brian Cody, claiming “two matadors” were being added to the Cats coaching ticket.
A lady from Pennsylvania picked up on the article, not realising it was a load of bull. She set up the online petition early last month and after a slow start, the campaign started to gain traction.
Over the last week, the Change.org was questioning the veracity of the article the petition the campaign was based on, and finally yesterday removed the campaign altogether.
