Dubliner Michael O’Neill was crowned the Male Senior winner of the Irish Bouldering Championships 2022 in Dublin Climbing Centre recently.
It was the first time since 2019 the event was held due to Covid-19 restrictions with Irish Climbing Team member O’Neill, who came third at the last tournament three years ago, emerging victorious, Ciaran Scanlon finishing runner-up and Rory Cummings taking third. The Irish Bouldering Championship took place at the indoor Tallaght venue on the 14th and 15th of May, with climbers in Youth D, Youth C and Youth B competing on the Saturday and climbers in Youth A and Senior categories competing on the Sunday.
In total, there were over 120 climbers from across Ireland and the United Kingdom competing in the two-day event, which featured two stages – a qualification round of eight boulder challenges (known in bouldering terms as ‘problems’) and a final round of four boulder problems. Victoria Watterson of Enniskillen, County Fermanagh won the Female Senior category, with Robin Casey and Jessica McGarry coming second and third respectively.
Pictured: Male Senior Final winners podium IBC 2022