Editing Hare coursing (section)

===Variations in Ireland===
Hare coursing is popular in [[Republic of Ireland|Ireland]], with the national meeting in [[Clonmel]], [[County Tipperary]], being the most important event in the coursing calendar, attracting 10,000&nbsp;spectators,<ref name="Countryfile">{{cite news|author=O'Reilly, M|publisher=BBC|title=Countryfile|date=2008-02-10}}</ref> and claimed by its organisers to be worth up to €16&nbsp;million for the local economy.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2008/0203/breaking10.htm|title=Thousands to attend coursing event|date=2008-02-03|newspaper=The Irish Times|access-date=2008-02-15|archive-date=2021-10-20|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211020000935/https://www.irishtimes.com/news/thousands-to-attend-coursing-event-1.818149|url-status=live}}</ref> There are around 70&nbsp;formal coursing clubs in the Republic and two in [[Northern Ireland]],<ref name="Reid Mortality"/> together holding 80–85 meetings per year.<ref name="ICC fixtures">{{cite web|url=http://www.irishcoursingclub.ie/fixtures.html |publisher=[[Irish Coursing Club]] |title=Fixture list 2009/10 |access-date=2009-09-11 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090308021458/http://www.irishcoursingclub.ie/fixtures.html |archive-date=March 8, 2009 }}</ref>

There are several differences between the rules of coursing in Great Britain (where it is regulated by the [[National Coursing Club]]) and Irish coursing which has been organised by the [[Irish Coursing Club]] since 1916.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.irishcoursingclub.ie|publisher=[[Irish Coursing Club]]|access-date=2008-02-16|title=The sport of coursing|archive-date=2007-12-18|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071218231142/http://www.irishcoursingclub.ie/|url-status=live}}</ref> Because hares are not plentiful in all parts of the [[Ireland|island of Ireland]], mainly due to modern [[Agriculture|agricultural practices]],<ref>{{citation|author1=Reid, N. |author2=Dingerkus, K. |author3=Montgomery, W. I. |author4=Marnell, F. |author5=Jeffrey, R. |author6=Lynn, D. |author7=Kingston, N. |author8=McDonald, R. A. |year=2007|title=Status of hares in Ireland|work=Irish Wildlife Manuals, No. 30|publisher=National Parks and Wildlife Service, Department of Environment, Heritage and Local Government|ref=Reid-status}}</ref> coursing clubs are licensed by the Irish government to net 70–75 hares for their events.<ref name="Reid Mortality"/> The hares are then transported in boxes to the coursing venue where they are kept for up to eight weeks and trained to be coursed.

Instead of being coursed on open land, the Irish form is run in a secure enclosure over a set distance. Since 1993, [[Irish Coursing Club]] rules have made it compulsory for the greyhounds to be [[Muzzle (device)|muzzled]] while they chase the hare. After the coursing event, the hares are transported back to where they were netted and re-released into the wild.<ref name="Reid Mortality"/> Whereas the UK form of coursing was run with dogs winning points for their running and turning of the hare, the Irish form is run on the basis that the first dog to turn the hare wins.<ref name="Countryfile"/> This is denoted by either a red flag or a white flag, indicating the colours of the respective dogs' collars.