Members of two Kerry Active Retirement bowls teams have taken out top prizes at the 2023 Active Retirement Ireland National Indoor Mats Bowling Competition, which took place at the Gleneagle INEC Arena last week.

Active Retirement Ireland National Indoor Mats Bowling Competition (large bowls) cup runners-up the Fossa Swans bowls team from Co Kerry. From left: John Byrne Norman Wilson Hannah Mai Murray (skip) and Barbara Sweeney. Photo credit: Don MacMonagle

Photo 1: Active Retirement Ireland National Indoor Mats Bowling Competition (large bowls) plate winners the Kenmare Dolphins bowls team. From left: Alan Storey Vera Shaw Mo Glover and Bill Glover pictured with Active Retirement Ireland National President Kevin Monaghan (centre). Photo credit: Don MacMonagle

The Kenmare Dolphins bowls team won the large bowls plate final, with the Fossa Swans coming in second place for the large bowls cup.

The Kenmare Dolphins team members are Vera Shaw, Mo Glover, Alan Storey and skip Bill Glover, while the Fossa Swans team members are Barbara Sweeney, Norman Wilson, John Byrne and skip Hannah Mai Harris. Last night (30.11.23), Kenmare Dolphins were presented with the 2023 large bowls plate and Fossa Swans were presented with the 2023 large bowls cup runners-up prize by Active Retirement Ireland National President Kevin Monaghan and Mayor of Killarney Cllr Brendan Cronin.

Over three days, 63 Active Retirement teams from across the country competed for the 2023 Active Retirement Ireland Cup in indoor mat bowls at the organisation’s 11th annual flagship event.

Speaking at the awards presentation, Active Retirement Ireland CEO Maureen Kavanagh said: “Congratulations to the Kerry bowls teams, the Kenmare Dolphins and Fossa Swans, on their fantastic achievement at this year’s National Bowls Competition. The 252 bowlers who have competed for the cup this week, alongside our volunteers who helped deliver the event, confirm the drive and desire of older people to do things for themselves, maintain social connections and be a part of life. Social events like the National Bowls Competition, where older people can get together, be active and enjoy a little healthy competition and camaraderie, are vital for positive ageing. We are grateful for the generous support of our event host the Gleneagle for making this event possible for so many of our members and for their recognition of the contribution that older people make.

“Older people don’t want things done for them; they want to be active in their own lives. It’s time the Government instituted and implemented a comprehensive, whole-of-government positive ageing framework in Ireland, including an adequate state pension benchmarked against average earnings, so that they can.”

There are 494 Active Retirement Associations (ARAs) in local communities across Ireland — groups of older people who come together to organise social events and activities to reduce isolation and loneliness — supported by the national body Active Retirement Ireland, the largest membership organisation for older people in the country.

In 2019, Active Retirement Ireland had 25,000 members operating out of 550 local ARAs. According to latest figures, 90% of this number of ARAs are back up-and-running again, with membership numbers now strengthened to 84% of pre-pandemic levels. This is an increase on 2022 figures, which at the end of last year showed that 81% of ARAs had resumed activities and 74% of members had returned to their ARAs.