The structure and regulation of the Irish equine industries: Links to considerations of equine welfare

The equine industries in Ireland are vibrant and growing. They are broadly classified into two sectors: Thoroughbred racing, and sports and leisure. This paper describes these sectors in terms of governance, education and training in equine welfare, and available data concerning horse numbers, identification, traceability and disposal. Animal welfare, and specifically equine welfare, has received increasing attention internationally. There is general acceptance of concepts such as animal needs and persons' responsibilities toward animals in their care, as expressed in the 'Five Freedoms'. As yet, little has been published on standards of equine welfare pertaining to Ireland, or on measures to address welfare issues here. This paper highlights the central role of horse identification and legal registration of ownership to safeguard the health and welfare of horses

Consumer participation in designing community based consumer-directed disability care : lessons from a participatory action research-inspired project

User participation has been embraced worldwide as a means to provide better consumer outcomes in health and community care. However, methodologies to achieve effective consumer engagement at the programme design level have remained under-explored. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the impact of a Participatory Action Research (PAR)-inspired methodology used to develop a consumer-directed community care/individualised funding service model for people with disabilities. A retrospective analysis of case notes and internal reports for the first 6 years of an ongoing project were examined. The findings suggest that PAR methodologies need to take into account community development, group support, and capacity building as well as succession planning and risk management issues in order to facilitate the often lengthy policy and project development process. Drawing on these findings, this article discusses five lessons and their methodological implications for PAR in a health or social policy/programme design context. <br /