All-Ireland finalists Mackle and McDonagh on opposite sides of the Joe McVeigh Cup draw

This week’s announcement of the Ból-Fada programme at Keady-Tassagh in Armagh seems like a rainbow to signal the end of a long Covid-19 winter.

The Easter festival was the first major bowling event to be cancelled because of the pandemic in 2020. It also fell victim of restrictions last year. It opens on Good Friday on the Viaduct road at Tassagh, before transferring to the Markethill Road for the following two days. It boasts most of the top men, women and underage bowling talent from North and South over the three days, leading to the Joe McVeigh Cup on Easter Sunday.