Active Retirement Ireland national indoor mats bowling competition (small bowls) cup runners up ‘St. Paul’s Red’ from County Waterford. From left: team members Tom Hearne, Paddy Doherty, Active Retirement Ireland National President Anne Drury, team skip Jimmy O’Sullivan and Paddy O’Mahoney in the Gleneagle Hotel, Killarney, Co Kerry on Thursday.
Photo: Don MacMonagle

Press release
Active retirees get back in the swing of things post-pandemic
The finals of the Active Retirement Ireland National Bowls Competition have taken place in the Gleneagle Hotel, Killarney, Co Kerry today (01.12.22), with some 450 members from Active Retirement Associations (ARAs) from communities across Ireland in attendance. Fifty-seven teams have been competing in indoor mat bowls over four days this week for the 2022 Active Retirement Ireland Cup. The flagship event has been held every year since 2010, with the exception of 2020 and 2021 when it was suspended due to the pandemic. According to new figures announced this week by Active Retirement Ireland, in 2019 there were 550 ARAs comprising some 25,000 members. Post-pandemic, current figures show that 81% of ARAs have resumed activities and 18,500 members (74%) have returned to their ARAs. A country-wide network of local Active Retirement Associations (ARAs) aims to reduce isolation and loneliness of older people, guided by the national charity Active Retirement Ireland, which is the country’s largest membership organisation for older people. Active Retirement Ireland CEO Maureen Kavanagh said: “I’d like to take this opportunity at the resumption of our largest membership event to issue a rallying call to more older people to try and re-engage and build up their social connections again, whether through your local ARA or elsewhere, but to understand that social connection is one of the most important pathways to better health. “The 230 finalists competing for the Cup this week, our members in attendance and our volunt