Both the IBU Interprovincial Championships and the Junior Home Internationals were held over the weekend of 19-21 February, the former on BBO, the latter on RealBridge.
The interprovincial champions are Connacht (Open), Leinster (Area Master), and Leinster (Intermediate), represented by the following teams:
- Connacht Open: David Walsh, Ciaran Coyne, Louise Mitchell, Donal MacAonghusa, Gay Keaveney (PC), Paul Scannell, Enda Glynn, Joan Kenny, Eddie Fitzgerald, Rory Timlin, Pat McDevitt, Michael MacDonagh.
- Leinster Area Master: Declan Murray, Fiona Gormley, Catherine Deegan, Nora Weafer, Triona Irving, Peggy Kelly, George Daly, John Gilliland, Maire O’Connor, Suzanne Hill, Peter Ryan, Liz Jennings, NPC Hugh Donnelly-Swift.
- Leinster Intermediate: Sinead Madden, Mick Kenny, Gary Dowling, Carol Vambeck, George Ryan, Sean Maguire, Barry Leahy, Debbie Leahy, John Flavin, Edward Spain, Helen Lambkin, Meliosa O’Mally, NPC Hugh Donnelly-Swift.
In the juniors, England won both the Junior Camrose (Under-26) and Peggy Bayer (Under-21) trophies. A heavy defeat to the victorious English team, at different stages of the competition, took its toll on both of our representatives. In the Junior Camrose, it happened in the very first match, and the team never really recovered, finishing third. The Peggy Bayer team, on the other hand, started very well, winning their first five matches to lead at the halfway stage; their heavy defeat to England came in the first match of the second round-robin, and, while they won seven of their ten matches in total, a narrow defeat to Wales in the final match saw the team finish third, an agonising 1.5 VPs behind Scotland in second. Our teams were:
- Junior Camrose: Conor Boland & Michael Donnelly, Isabel Burke & Sheila Walsh, John Connolly & Stephen Barr, NPC: Thomas MacCormac.
- Peggy Bayer: Leah Finnegan & Denise Walsh, Tom Gorey & Adam Murphy, Matthew O’Farrell & Luca Crone, NPC: Margaret Murphy, Coach: Karel De Raeymaeker.
Our thanks to Fearghal O’Boyle, who directed the interprovincials for us, and to Anne Perkins and her team from the Scottish Bridge Union, who hosted the junior internationals.