The weekend saw several important bridge events.
Firstly, Ireland hosted the first of two weekends of the Camrose Trophy (Open Home International Series), in CityNorth Hotel in Gormanstown. The Irish team (Tom Hanlon, Conor Boland, Mark Moran, John Carroll, Adam Mesbur, Nick FitzGibbon, and NPC Grainne Barton) had an excellent first weekend, winning all five of their matches and establishing a decent lead over second-placed England. We wish them well for the second weekend in Wales in early March.
Our thanks to our TDs for the weekend, Fearghal O’Boyle, Mairead Basquille, and Alan Hill, and the cast of volunteers who helped out. Apologies to interested viewers that a technical glitch meant that it was not possible to broadcast the third match (Saturday afternoon and evening) as planned, and thanks to Andy Bowles and Shireen Mohandes of the RealBridge team for helping us to resolve it in time for Sunday’s sessions.
The weekend also saw national President John Phelan’s “home” congress, in the Tower Hotel in Waterford. The winners of the various competitions were:
- Mixed Pairs: Roisin & Willie O’Gorman
- Novice Pairs: Margaret Asprey & Anthony O’Reilly
- Congress Pairs: Gordon Lessells & Justin Spratt Junior
- Intermediate Pairs: Brenda Collins & Margie Heylin
- Congress Teams: John O’Connor, Justin Spratt, Kay Cussen, Denis Sheehan
Thanks to TD Diarmuid Reddan for making sure the congress ran smoothly.
Finally, the weekend also saw the 3rd Online Women’s European Championships played on the RealBridge platform, with three teams either entirely or partly made up of Irish players involved. The trio performed well, with two of them making it to the A final (the top 8 of the 50 starting teams). Neither team challenged for the podium, unfortunately, and the highest placed were Lucy Phelan and Louise Mitchell with two Welsh teammates as part of the CELTS team, in sixth, with GANAINM (the meaning of which was probably lost on their non-Irish opponents) – our upcoming Lady Milne team of Gilda Pender, Rebecca Brown, Hilary D-L McDonagh, Ann-Marie Horan-Carroll, Joan Kenny, and Jeannie Fitzgerald – a couple of spots behind them.