There is no legal requirement on a coursing club to release hares at the end of a coursing meeting. However, a standing directive from the Irish Coursing Club to all their constituent clubs requires that, at the conclusion of every coursing meeting all hares must be tattooed and released back to the wild. The directive also requires that this should be done under the supervision of a control steward of the club. The Irish Coursing Club are recognised under the Greyhound Industry Act, 1958, subject to the general control and direction of Bord na gCon, as the controlling authority for the breeding and coursing of greyhounds.
The rules of the Irish Coursing Club make it an offence for a club to course a hare more than once on any day of coursing or trials. In the event of a meeting lasting more than one day a number of hares may be coursed again on the second or third day but at the conclusion of the meeting, must be tattooed and released back to the wild.