Many congratulations to Tom Hanlon, who yesterday became the first Irish player ever to be elected to the European Bridge League (EBL) Hall of Fame.

The induction took place at the Opening Ceremony of the European Championships in Riga, and Tom is pictured above with EBL President Eric Laurent and Kathrine Bertheau of Sweden, who was also elected to the Hall. This is a wonderful achievement for Tom, and clear recognition of the esteem in which he is held by his peers and by the European bridge authorities.

Tom is Ireland’s most capped player, and is closing in on a century of caps. He graduated straight from the Juniors to the Open Team in 1994, and has the distinction of being our youngest ever Grand Master. Very popular and highly regarded worldwide, Tom has represented Ireland in pretty much every year since his junior debut in 1986. He has won all our major national titles, most of them on multiple occasions, and more than fifty in total. Internationally, his achievements include:

• 2006 Silver medal in the European Championships in Warsaw
• 2007 Bermuda Bowl in Shanghai
• 2012 Semi-finalist in the World Championships in Lille
• 2013 Silver medal in the Cavendish Teams; fourth in European Transnational Pairs partnering John Carroll
• 2017 Winner of Copenhagen Invitational Pairs partnering Vince Demuy
• 2023 Bermuda Bowl in Marrakech

Tom is also a multiple winner of the Camrose Trophy and the French Open League, has won the prestigious EBU tournaments the Lederer Trophy (several times) and the Spring Fours, and has many strong performances to his name in the US, including in the Vanderbilt and Spingold.

Away from the table, Tom has given a great deal to bridge, supporting and developing the game in many areas. He was an integral part of the player effort to expose the high-level cheaters who were such a blight on the game during the 2000-2015 period (in several of Tom’s podium finishes, including Warsaw in 2006, he was defeated by teams or pairs subsequently revealed to have been cheating). He continues to serve on our domestic Tournament & Play Committee. And in his early days in particular, Tom devoted considerable time to training juniors, and has consistently played in international events with emerging talented players.

In spite of his extensive commitments as a full-time professional player, Tom continues to support as many national and club events as he can – he is a proud and popular member of the Regent Bridge Club in Dublin. At these events, Tom always obliges participants with answers to their bridge queries and advice about systems, as well as entertaining them with stories from tournaments abroad. His enthusiasm for bridge and his consistent drive toward improvement makes him a very natural promoter of the game. Tom was also the bridge correspondent for the Evening Herald newspaper for many years.

His partnership with Hugh McGann was at the core of many of Ireland’s bridge achievements, and, since Hugh left for foreign parts, Tom has built an extremely successful partnership with another player who graduated seamlessly from the junior ranks, Conor Boland. Tom has also had many successes in partnership with John Carroll.

We sure all Irish bridge players will join us in congratulating Tom, and we will mark his achievement in due course. 

The best of luck to the four teams representing Ireland at the 57th European Championships, in Riga, Latvia. The Open competition is already under way, and the Women’s, Seniors’, and Mixed competitions commence on Wednesday, 1st July. Our teams are:

• Open: John Carroll, Mark Moran, Tom Hanlon, Conor Boland, Adam Mesbur, Nick FitzGibbon, NPC Gráinne Barton
• Women: Joan Kenny, Jeannie Fitzgerald, Gilda Pender, Rebecca O'Keeffe, Teresa Rigney, Siobhan Part, NPC Tommy Garvey
• Senior: Paul Porteous, Fred Barry, Donal Garvey, Pat Quinn, David Dunne, Michael McAuliffe, NPC Sheila Kelly
• Mixed: Lucy Phelan, John Phelan, Anna Onishuk, Karel De Raeymaeker, Zrinka Kokot, Pat McDaid, NPC Diarmuid Reddan

You can follow all the tournaments >here< and we would expect all teams to feature on the Vugraph facility at some stage during the championships. Please give all our teams your full support for what will be a very demanding championship!  Further updates may appear on the CBAI website during the tournament.

Congratulations to the winners of the Egan Trophy (IBU All-Ireland Teams Championship) - pictured are the champions David Greenwood, Matthew O'Farrell, Rex Anderson and Wayne Somerville with Gordon Lessells, IBU President.

In a very tight match, the champions succeeded in wresting the Egan from members of the Irish Open team, which has held a firm grip on the trophy for many years.  Both teams won all their other matches convincingly, so the championship was decided by the head-to-head match.  As so often in tight contests, this match - and thereby the tournament - was swung by a single board; a 50:50 slam bid by only one of the contestants; and, on this occasion, 12 tricks rolled in.  Commiserations to the runners-up - Tom Hanlon, Conor Boland, Adam Mesbur and Nick FitzGibbon; even a stunning cross-IMP score of +3.45 by Tom and Conor was not enough on this occasion.

Thanks also to Alan Hill for directing this great contest, and to NIBU and LaMon Hotel & Spa for excellent organising and hosting.  Full results can be found >here<.

The annual IBU Seniors Congress 2026 was held at the Cavan Crystal Hotel from Tuesday 21st - Thursday 23rd April.  As always, the competitions were all played in friendly and convivial spirit, with the main aim of all being a pleasant game.

It was a particularly fruitful congress for Enda Glynn and Paul (PB) Barrett, who enjoyed first place in the Congress Pairs event for the Pat McDevitt Trophy, with Kevin O'Dea and Liam Maher placing second and Sandra and John McGinley.  

Enda and Paul backed this up by winning the Congress Teams, playing with Justin Spratt and IBU President Gordon Lessells, holding off the challenge of Joan Kenny, Teresa Rigney, David Dunne and Michael McAuliffe.  With such a strong field, the Best Intermediate team of Brian Mullan, Toni Bradley, Mary Flynn and Helena McCambridge played creditably throughout.

These main competitions were backed up by the Tuesday night Gala Pairs (won by Anne Fitzpatrick and Harold Curran from Helen Hall and Michael McFaul), and well supported Open Pairs sessions - as can be seen in the scrolling prize pictures below.  

Particular thanks to the Northeast Region for their support in organising the event and sponsorship; and to our very able TDs, Fearghal O'Boyle and Peter Byrne, for keeping the show on the road throughout.  Results can be found >here<.

The weekend of 11th-12th April was notable for the major interruptions to traffic around the country by fuel protesters.  This caused some events to be postponed - but not the IBU All-Ireland Pairs Championship 2026 (for the Moylan Trophy), which took place in the Malahide Bridge Centre as planned.

The stellar field produced some fine play (and a topsy-turvy mid-table) but the grandmaster pairing of Terry Walsh and Peter Goodman were strong in all three sessions and unassailable in the end.  Consistent performances brought podium places for Anna Carr and Margaret Farren (2nd) and John Carroll and Mark Moran (3rd).

Our thanks go to the committee and staff of the Malahide Regional Bridge Centre for all their work on preparation and hospitality; and to TD Eamonn Galligan.  Particular thanks go to the CBAI staff and others who co-ordinated the last minute work to ensure the competition was able to go ahead, despite the transport issues we all faced on the weekend.  Overall results can be found >here<.

The 2026 Intercounty Championships for Open and Intermediate players took place at Knightsbrook Hotel, Trim, Co Meath on 21st-22nd March - with great excitement all round! 

The Burke Trophy (Open Intercounty Championship) played out in a now familiar manner, with the Dublin team of Paul Delaney, Tomas Roche, Martin Brady and David Dunne retaining the trophy once again.  As in previous years, their results were characterised by a steady march upward through the field, only emerging at the top of the leaderboard in the final few rounds.  The Louth team of Seamus Costello, Deirdre Tuckey, Noreen Pender and Antoinette McGee had the upper hand for some time but were ultimately held to second place, with the head-to-head match against the winners proving decisive.  Wicklow (Dolores Gilliland, Maria Whelan, Mairead Haugh and John Noonan) claimed third with a second Dublin team (Terry Walsh, James Heneghan, Paula Heaphy and Brid Kemple) in fourth.  Results can be found here.

The O'Connor Trophy (Intermediate Intercounty Championship) was a tight competition, with just four VPs separating the three podium places.  When the dust had settled, top spot was held by the Dublin team of Russell Down, Maura King, Mary Cox and Ian Kingston from Westmeath (Jonathan Williams, Joan Peppard, Dillon Murtagh and Kevin Woulfe) with Sligo (Maria Lynch, Mary Gannon, Denise Cassidy and Patricia Hanney) in third.  Full results can be found here.

After a disappointing turnout in previous years, the 2026 competitions were oversubscribed - a trend that we hope will continue though 2027 and beyond.  Thanks as always to our fabulous TD team of Fearghal O'Boyle and Huey Daly for guiding us through the tournament smoothly and efficiently.

The annual Interprovincial Tournament was held at Knightsbrook Hotel and Spa in Trim, Co. Meath on the last weekend in November.  As always, the entire competition was conducted in great spirit - and there were more slams per session than most of us could remember in competition for many a long year!  

IN the end, each competition could have only one winner.  Munster claimed the Intermediate competition and Regional/Area Master challenge for the Fearghal O'Boyle Trophy.  The Leinster Open team stepped up to prevent a clean sweep by Munster.  

Our thanks as always to the superb TD team of Fearghal, Mairead and Brian Lawlor, who helped to make the tournament a joy for all to play in.

At the IBU Annual Meeting in CityNorth Hotel, Gormanstown, Co. Meath on Monday, 18th August 2025, Gordon Lessells of CBAI was installed as IBU President.

Gordon is pictured here after receiving the chain of office from the outgoing President, Heather Hill of NIBU.

Everyone at IBU wishes President Gordon every good fortune for the year, and we thank Heather for her dedication and commitment over the last year.