no its not .... if you dont know what your talking about why reply.
the IRISH hare was protected by a temporary protection order .... which was not renewed this year so means there is no protection for them ...
the brown hare was never protected so has always been legal to hunt ...
now what is banned is the organised coursing meets , the beagles are still allowed to hunt and so are the lurchers
so as from 4 days ago (start of the season for hare in NI) any hare is fair game