No formal coursing has taken place in Northern Ireland since 2002, as Ministers have refused the coursing clubs permission to net hares, and have protected them from being coursed or hunted under the Game Preservation (Northern Ireland) Act and in June 2010 the Northern Ireland Assembly voted to ban the practice. The two extant Northern Ireland coursing clubs since 2002 have travelled to the Republic to hold meetings jointly with coursing clubs there. Opinion polls commissioned by the League Against Cruel Sports as part of its campaigning have shown very strong public opposition to hare coursing from both urban and rural residents of Northern Ireland (and the Republic of Ireland).