Search
09 Dec 2025
Search
09 Dec 2025
Please allow ads as they help fund our trusted local news content.
Kindly add us to your ad blocker whitelist.
If you want further access to Ireland's best local journalism, consider contributing and/or subscribing to our free daily Newsletter .
Support our mission and join our community now.
To continue reading this article, you can subscribe for as little as €0.50 per week which will also give you access to all of our premium content and archived articles!
Alternatively, you can pay €0.50 per article, capped at €1 per day.
Thank you for supporting Ireland's best local journalism!
Ireland Mixed 30sTouch Rugby Team with Ian O’Malley fifth from left in the back row. 2. Ireland Women’s 35s team with Emer O’Malley third from left in the back row.
The 2024 Touch Rugby World Cup took place in Nottingham recently from 15th – 21st July and a Carlow brother and sister were central players on two of the Ireland teams that played in the tournament.
Touch Rugby is six-a-side, non-contact version of rugby which is very popular in Australia and New Zealand where it happens to be the number one participation sport. Here in Ireland, it is growing in popularity with nearly 500 players.
Read Next: PICTURES: Classically refurbished Victorian home outside County Carlow for under €500,000
Ian O’Malley from Carlow Town was a key player for the Ireland Mixed over 30s (MX30s) team that came 10th in their division in Nottingham. Ian has been playing Touch Rugby for Ireland at various levels for over 12 years and has been capped over 70 times. He previously played for many years with the Old Belvedere Touch Rugby club but now lives in Switzerland and plays Touch there.
Ian’s sister Emer is also an experienced Touch Rugby international for over 10 years and she was a leading player for the Ireland Women’s 35s (W35s) team that came 7th in their division. Emer was joint top scorer for the W35s scoring 5 tries over the 7 games.
She was previously a member of the Ireland W35s team that took bronze in the 2022 European Touch Championships and is based in Dublin where she plays with Old Belvedere Touch. Ian and Emer have in fact played together on a number of occasions for Ireland Mixed Touch teams between 2012 and 2016, most notably when winning a European Silver medal with the MX30s team in 2016.
Subscribe or register today to discover more from DonegalLive.ie
Buy the e-paper of the Donegal Democrat, Donegal People's Press, Donegal Post and Inish Times here for instant access to Donegal's premier news titles.
Keep up with the latest news from Donegal with our daily newsletter featuring the most important stories of the day delivered to your inbox every evening at 5pm.
This publication supports the work of the Press Council of Ireland and Office of the Press Ombudsman, and our staff operate within the Code of Practice of the Press Council. You can obtain a copy of the Code, or contact the Council, at www.presscouncil.ie, Lo-call 1800 208 080 or email: info@presscouncil.ie.
