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Michael Ring, Minister of State for Tourism & Sport, has extended his congratulations to The Irish Bridge Open team who achieved fourth place in the World Mind Sports Championship in Lille, France this week.

Minister Ring said: “Following on from Ireland’s achievements at the London Olympics, we can now also count ourselves among the best bridge minds in the world. I’d like to congratulate the bridge team on their success and wish them well in future tournaments.”

Three Irish teams competed in the Championships in the Open, Women and Senior categories. The Open team narrowly missed out on a bronze medal when they came up against stiff competition from reigning European Bridge Champions, Monaco.

The Irish Open team for this event included: Captain - David Jackson, Nick Fitzgibbon, Adam Mesbur, Hugh McGann, Tom Hanlon, Tommy Garvey and John Carroll. The team’s previous achievements include fifth place in a World Bridge Federation Olympiad, a quarter final place in the Transnational Teams section of the world finals in Shanghai, and a silver medal in the European Championships in 2006.

Minister Ring added: “Only last June, Ireland successfully hosted the European Bridge Championships. Over 1,000 players and their supporters arrived in Dublin at relatively short notice, after the original host country pulled out of the event. The competitors praised the warm welcome they received here and the well-organised competition.”