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Accenture Community Walk

Wednesday 11th February saw us take a break from our typical training to join Accenture on their community walk. Some of our members walked with Accenture from their office to our clubhouse, while some of our paddlers paddled alongside the walkers around the dock, giving a "paddle, bang, salute" along the way. A palpable buzz of excitement followed us every step of the way as the Accenture community and Plurabelles chatted and shared stories.

Thank you to Accenture for the lovely welcome we received in your office, and for choosing Plurabelle Paddlers as your partner on your community walk.

 Photos courtesy of Catrin Prys-Cummins

2026 Events

Plurabelle Paddlers crews plan to compete in the following events in 2026.

The Dragon Run 10Km – Sunday, 29th March 2026
River Barrow, Carlow Town Park, Sleaty Street, Graiguecullen, Co. Carlow

Athy Dragon Boat Regatta – Sunday, 3rd May 2026
River Barrow, Emily Square, Athy, Co. Kildare

Barrow Dragon Boat Regatta – Sunday, 7th June 2026
River Barrow, Carlow Town Park, Sleaty Street, Graiguecullen, Co. Carlow

Donegal Dragon Boat Regatta - Saturday, 25th July 2026
Donegal, Co. Donegal

2026 IBCBC Participatory Dragon Boat Festival - 24th to 30th August 2026
Aix-les-Bains, France

Lough Rinn Dragon Boat Regatta – Saturday, 12th September 2026
Lough Rynn Caravan & Camping, Mohill, Co. Leitrim

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Flower ceremony 2025

Our annual flower ceremony takes place each year in October, Breast Cancer Awareness month. The ceremony is an opportunity to celebrate survivorship and living after a breast cancer diagnosis and an occasion where we show our support to our members living with cancer. We take time to remember and honour our Plurabelles who have passed away. This year’s ceremony took place on Saturday 11 October and was led by Maria Fleming, who read some beautiful poetry with accompanying music supplied by her sister Eileen on harp and her brother-in-law Frank on fiddle. Pink gerbera were released on to the water in remembrance at the end of the ceremony.

Following the ceremony members and guests went back to the clubhouse to chat and enjoy the legendary Plurabelle hospitality.

 

Fiona Slevin appointed as IBCPC Irish rep

Marion Egan has resigned as national representative on the International Breast Cancer Paddlers’ Commission after holding the position for three years. Fiona Slevin has now been appointed as the new national IBCPC rep. Fiona, a Plurabelle since 2010,  is very well known in the Irish dragon boat community and overseas and is a fantastic candidate to take over the role. It is great news for our club to have another Plurabelle representing us, especially with the festival taking place in France next year. 

Previous representatives in the role include Deborah Bonner from Donegal Dragons and Plurabelle Susan Rowe, who was the first Irish representative.

A trophy and a special award at Ballina

Forty Plurabelles (two teams) travelled to Ballina Dragons’ first regatta and received a warm welcome, with tea, sandwiches and cakes. Experienced and new paddlers were mixed on the teams. The Plurabelle 1 team qualified for the BCS final, and, after a very closely fought race, won in 54.56 seconds. The race commentator’s voice boomed over the venue and we were renamed as ‘The Powerbelles’ – quite apt, we thought.

At the prize-giving ceremony, Ballina Dragons surprised us by presenting a special recognition award. They thanked us for setting up the first dragon boat club in Ireland and said they felt they were ‘standing on the shoulders of giants’. It was a very proud moment for our club.

After the ceremony we went back to the Quay West pub, where the Ballina Dragons had arranged live music. We mingled with the other dragon boat teams and enjoyed a terrific evening, with plenty of singing and dancing.

The Ballina Dragons have to be heartily congratulated on the outstanding success of their inaugural regatta, which was incredibly enjoyable.

       

Warmup Plurabelle style

Three new helms

Sunday 10 August was a great day for our club, with three of our members – Katie, Nola and Helen – going through helm training with Julie Doyle of the Irish Dragon Boat Association. Beyza Yaman, from the Dublin Viking Dragon Boat Club, also qualified as a helm. Thanks to the volunteers who crewed the boats and special thanks to Margaret for all the time she has given to help prepare our helm trainees. Part of the training was a capsize in the afternoon, which seems to have been thoroughly enjoyed by everyone.

Many thanks to Julie Doyle for doing such a terrific job training our new helms.