Ireland now on new level of professionalism after Italian job

Five individual gold medals from a possible 12, and two individual silvers as well as a bronze.

Winning all four team events in your national discipline and the senior men’s team title in the discipline of a country with several times your population. That was Ireland at the 14th European Championships in Italy.

Individually and collectively, few Ireland squads, in any sport, perform as well as the Irish bowlers. What was achieved last weekend in Italy will be lost on the vast majority of Irish sports fans and indeed there are still some bowling supporters who have yet to fully realise the scale of their national team’s success.