WHATEVER happens in China affects the whole world, there’s more to come,” was Austin Melia’s intuitive take back in March about a pandemic unfolding around the world. It’s his first-hand knowledge of the Chinese market and culture that makes the Tuam man the go-to person for updates on the situation.

Before he came home for Christmas, Melia oversaw four equestrian clubs around China. His description of conditions at the Wuhan club, near the pandemic’s epicentre, painted a vivid picture of horses bedded on sand and fed on hay, as bedding and feed supplies ran out in early March.