For 51 weekends of the year Sevenhouses is just a crossroads on the R697 a few miles south of Kilkenny; on the second weekend of January however, every year, it becomes a Mecca for the tight-knit coursing community, last-chance-saloon to qualify for the great annual National Coursing Meeting in Clonmel a few weeks later.

THE newly formed Alliance for the Betterment of Coursing held its inaugural National meeting on Sunday last in Nenagh and organisers were delighted with the huge turnout.