UPDATE 16 MARCH: The IBU’s Moylan Cup will be held live in Malahide Bridge Centre on 2/3 April, and that the IBU Club Pairs will remain online for this season – the Masters event on Saturday 7 May and the Intermediate & Novice event on Sunday 8 May.
At a recent CBAI Governing Council meeting, the delegates unanimously approved a proposal that current National President Pat O’Mahony’s term be extended by a year, on the grounds that, due to COVID restrictions, Pat has not had the opportunity to enjoy any of the usual privileges accorded to the President in their year of office. As a result, Pat will continue as President for the 2022/23 season, and the current President-Elect, Gordon Lessells of North Munster, will take up office for the 2023/24 season. Our thanks to Gordon, and to Dublin North region which falls next in the rotation, for their gracious assent to this proposal. Pat is looking forward to meeting all the members in person rather than via a camera in 2022/23!
The same meeting also decided that all CBAI national competitions from April onwards should be held live rather than online. The first live competitions will be the JJ Murphy Trophy (National Novice Pairs Championship) and the Lambert Cup (National Confined Pairs Championship) on Saturday 9 April, and the Cooper Cup (National Confined Teams Championship) on Sunday 10 April. Entries for those competitions are now open via our online entry system. The venue has yet to be finalised, but it will definitely be in the greater Dublin vicinity. Keep an eye on the website for further details; we’ll confirm as soon as we can. (The “Confined” events are restricted to Area Master and Intermediate A grades only.) Then we have the National Teams Championships on 23/24 April in the Hodson Bay Hotel in Athlone. This is a pre-qualification event, with entries being managed by the regional secretaries. Unfortunately, the hotel has been unable to retain any rooms for us, given the uncertainty of the event being held live, so participants will have to stay elsewhere. Because these events will be live rather than virtual, national titles and monetary prizes will be awarded once again. And unless advised to the contrary, for live events, the Saturday start time will be 13:00, and the Sunday one 11:00.
The IBU has yet to decide formally in relation to some of its events, but one that definitely will be held live is the midweek Seniors Congress in the Cavan Crystal Hotel on 26/28 April, where Aileen Timoney and her team look forward to welcoming you again for a few days of good bridge and Cavan hospitality. A special bridge rate is available in the hotel, but rooms are limited so book early.
All the other congresses had already indicated that they would remain online, up as far as Ballina in July, and we assume they will stick to that plan.
The IBU Burke and O’Connor IBU Teams competitions were held virtually on 12 March, and the winners were: Burke Trophy (Open Teams) Paul Delaney, Tomás Roche, Martin Brady, David Dunne; O’Connor Trophy (Intermediate Teams) Anne Kinsella, Grace Corcoran, Denise Cassidy, Fiona Place. Entries were disappointing, with the result that the two competitions had to be mingled together. Thanks to all who participated, and to TD Fearghal O’Boyle for making sure everything ran smoothly. Results with Masterpoints