Dublin city councillors have passed a motion to ban circuses that have wild animals from the council's land.

The motion covers a site on Alfie Byrne Road, which is controlled by Dublin City Council.

The move has been welcomed by the Irish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals whose CEO Dr Andrew Kelly said it is now time for a national ban.

Animal rights group ARAN said Ireland is a step nearer to a national ban on the use of animals in Irish circuses.

But it added there was still much work to be done to bring "our outdated and old-fashioned views of using animals for entertainment into modern century thinking".

The motion proposing the ban was put forward by Sinn Féin Councillor Noeleen Reilly.

She called for the council to support asking "the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development to introduce and ensure appropriate enforcement of a strict ban on the use of wild non-domesticated animals in circuses," and that the council "bans the use of Dublin City Council land for wild animal circuses until a time that legislation is brought in to enact a ban".