'In 1972 the Internationals were due to be played at Larne but because of the troubles in Northern Ireland and reports that a small bomb had been found.'

'In 1972 the Internationals were due to be played at Larne but because of the troubles in Northern Ireland and reports that a small bomb had been found.'

Tom recounts the Bowling Internationals in 1972 when England pulled out due to the troubles in Belfast at the time.

Tom Sutton

Trinity College Dublin

1972

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Tom Sutton

Marriage and Family

Life Story

Belfast

1970s

Back to bowling and, as Treasurer of Ireland and the British Isles, I note only collected match fees and keep the books in order, but dealt with the Sports Council and Government officials. Seeking grants was all part of the job, along with continually looking out for possible sponsorship for special events. For Ireland one of our main sponsors was C.I.S Insurance and I enjoyed a very close relationship with their representatives Jim McCairn and Peter Carmichael. There is no doubt Irish bowling owes a great debt to Ronnie Harper, Alex Mills and Ray McLean, reporters of bowling respectively for the Belfast Telegraph, Belfast Newsletter and the Irish News, as they gave great publicity to the C.I.S. sponsorshi8p in their columns.It was quite remarkable in the British Isles Bowling Council that whilst the position of president rotated around each of the four countries, England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales, for many years my good friend Richmond McKay, a Larne Bowler, was B.I.B.C. secretary and I treasurer and we came from the smallest country of the four. Our successful partnership was based on the trust we had for each other to do whatever we said we would do.In 1972 the internationals were due to be played at Larne but because of the troubles in Northern Ireland and reports that a small bomb had been found in Larne a few weeks prior to the event, England pulled out of the internationals. A big disappointment, especially for the Larne club, who had made many preparations for the big event. Rumour had it that it was the officials who didn't want to come and it would appear this was correct, for all players from England, except one, came along with all the players from the other countries. It was obviously not an official international, but it was the start of what we called friendly internationals and these have been played annually ever since, albeit playing indoor over a weekend, using the indoor stadiums of Belfast, Dundee, Cardiff and Hartlepool.

Irish Research Council for Arts, Humanities & Social Sciences (IRCHSS)

Dr Kathleen McTiernan (Trinity College Dublin)

Dr Deirdre O'Donnell (Trinity College Dublin)