There was a large turnout of anti-hunt protesters in Crawfordsburn this morning (January 1) for the annual peaceful demonstration.
The call was made by North Down Sinn Fein who urged people to meet at the front of the Old Inn carpark.
There was a police presence as protesters against the North Down hunt stood for a time on the road.
Last year a Green Party organised anti-fox hunt protest attracted around 200 people.
Currently Northern Ireland is the only part of the UK which has not outlawed fox hunting.
Hunting with dogs is not illegal, but various organisations including the League against Cruel Sports has called for the bans to be extended here.
Great turnout at Crawfordsburn protesting the North Down Hunt. #northdownhunt #greenpartyni #ForFoxSake pic.twitter.com/D3cRi3s8BC
— Cllr Barry McKee (@Barry_ndgreen) January 1, 2019
Join us at Crawfordsburn for a peaceful protest against the New year's Day annual fox Hunt.
Meeting out the front of the Old Inn carpark 1st January @10:30.Hunting foxes and other wild mammals with dogs is cruel. pic.twitter.com/rD870QWbFx
— North Down Sinn Féin.⭕ (@bangorsinnfein) December 30, 2018
Peaceful protest against the New Years Day fox hunt in Crawfordsburn ✌??
Posted by Gary Graham on Tuesday, 1 January 2019
Well done to all that came out today to show their disgust at fox hunting here in NI. Here we have 3 brave warriors taking a stand directly by stopping the murderers getting through. There is no place for hunting in a 21st century and this must be banned in NI, with no loopholes. pic.twitter.com/NEw11ZUrUi
— HuntsabsNI (@Huntsabsni) January 1, 2019