The 2026 Malahide Bridge Club Annual General Meeting, will take place  at 7.30p.m. on Thursday May 21st 2026, in M.R.B.C. Clubhouse, Broomfield, Malahide.

Members wishing to submit motions to the AGM will need to submit such motions no later than Thursday April 30th.

Such motions …shall be in writing and shall bear the signature of the member proposing and the member seconding the motion and shall be delivered to the Secretary at least twenty-one clear days before the Annual General Meeting, Rule 21.

Motions can be submitted by post to the Secretary, M.R.B.C. PO Box 1990 Broomfield Malahide Co. Dublin K36 K728.

Motions can also be submitted by email to secretary@mrbc.ie

N.B. Please note that motions sent by email should be by attachment, showing signatures of the proposer and the seconder.

Motions and Agenda will be posted on the Club notice Board no later than Thursday May 7th.

Last Tuesday night Brendan Redmond and I were having a good round until we came up against Brian Kane and his partner Martin O’Flynn. They hammered us and to add insult to injury then proceeded to tell us it was their 1st time playing together!

Board 25 was particularly interesting. It threw up those age old chestnuts….to double or not to double…to go to the 5 level or leave it for the opposition.

My partner Brendan opened 1 spade, with a 12 count and 2 five card majors. Brian, sitting East overcalled 2 diamonds, a very reasonable bid, with 8 diamonds, 2 singletons and 8 points. In the South seat, I immediately bid 4 spades with 4 card spade support, a singleton diamond, 6 clubs and Ax in hearts. 4 spades was really designed to make it difficult for West to bid, but actually even apart from that I was correct, as the legend says, 4 spades is in it. And West duly passed.

Brian then makes a very daring 5 diamond bid, giving me a dilemma….do I double, do I go to 5 spades, do I pass…..??

I elected to go to 5 spades. (What happened to 5 is for the opposition, Mary?)

Now the doctor is stirred into action and slaps down a big double on the table, and holding the Ace and King of spades and his partner surely good for 1 trick, why wouldn’t he?

Of course the correct bid for me, was to double the 5 diamonds. With the opposition vulnerable, going off two doubled, yields a great score for us (500) as opposed to the 420 we make for 4 spades (or even 5 spades) non vul. You’d think at this stage I would think like this automatically…..though looking at the other contracts for this board, we had all kinds of everything, with some N/S’s being allowed to play in 4 spades, some E/W’s off in 5 diamonds, some contracts doubled, some not.

Remember a key determinant in doubling, passing or bidding to the 5 level is always to check and be guided by the vulnerability!

Following the AGM on 22nd May and subsequent Council meeting the following are the council members for 2025/6.

President - Anthony McMackin,

Bar Manager - Patricia Brennan.

Social Secretary - Mary Chambers 

Secretary - Catherine Deegan.

Treasurer - Niall Duffy.

Facilities Officer - Kathy Murphy.

Technology Officer - Eilish Timoney.

Tournaments Officer - Nora Weafer.

The following is one of the items on the Smart Card Information Tab.

How do I check my balance.

If you make any purchase at the bar using your Smart Card you will get a receipt with your balance on it.

You can also go to the Bar with your Smart Card and ask the Bar Person for the balance or for a list of recent transactions. 

You can also get it online through the Smart Club Cloud App (which you can download to your phone) - Click on Smart Card - then on the page which appears click on the three rectangles on the top right of the screen.  These will then allow you to view your Transaction History.

You can logon to SmartClubCloud | Login Page - Go to the Top Up Icon - Scroll down through that and you will see a Transaction History Tab. Fill in the details and this will show your transaction History.

To login online your username will be in the form firstname.surname.number - e.g. joe.soap.567 and you should have set up your own password.