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The WRC series Rally Ireland 2007 was the largest spectator volume sporting event ever held north or south of the border. This bi-annually recurring motor-sport offers opportunity for political and social showcasing, tourism generation, community involvement and revenue generation over and beyond the intrinsic event experience that it offers to organisers, participants and spectators. It also provides a discussion forum arguing for the incorporation of management disciplines associated with managed events including; project management, human resource management and the harnessing and harvesting of social capital. Research conducted under the aegis of WRC by the University of Ulster into the economic impact of Rally Ireland 2007, together with participant organiser recommendations for future practice provided by 13 leading operatives / organisers of Rally Ireland 2007 provide the data for examination of the extended theoretical basis of event management. The role of volunteers and melding a with salaried, permanent cohort in Toffler's (1990) pulsating organisation capable of delivering an event that extends stakeholdership is examined, the macro and micro political 'value' of the event and involvement in the event discussed and recommendations for further research provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The European Union's (EU) climate and energy package requires all EU countries to reduce their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 20% by 2020. Based on current trends, Ireland is on track to miss this target with a projected reduction of only 5% to 6%. The agriculture sector has consistently been the single largest contributor to Irish GHG emissions, representing 33% of all emissions in 2017. Small-scale anaerobic digestion (SSAD) holds promise as an attractive technology for the treatment of livestock manure and the organic fraction of municipal wastes, especially in low population communities or standalone waste treatment facilities. This study assesses the viability of SSAD in Ireland, by modelling the technical, economic, and environmental considerations of operating such plants on commercial Irish dairy farms. The study examines the integration of SSAD on dairy farms with various herd sizes ranging from 50 to 250 dairy cows, with co-digestion afforded by grass grown on available land. Results demonstrate feedstock quantities available on-farm to be sufficient to meet the farm's energy needs with surplus energy exported, representing between 73% and 79% of the total energy generated. All scenarios investigated demonstrate a net CO2 reduction ranging between 2059–173,237 kg CO2-eq. yr−1. The study found SSAD systems to be profitable within the plant's lifespan on farms with dairy herds sizes of >100 cows (with payback periods of 8–13 years). The simulated introduction of capital subvention grants similar to other EU countries was seen to significantly lower the plant payback periods. The insights generated from this study show SSAD to be an economically sustainable method for the mitigation of GHG emissions in the Irish agriculture sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]