IF you want an example of how darts is growing across Ireland then the makeup of the country's men's and ladies teams for the upcoming Island Nations tournament gives a perfect one.
Players from no less than 10 counties are represented across the two squads, and from all corners of Ireland.
Given that Donegal are the reigning men's inter-county champions, it hardly surprising that the North has more than it's fair share of names amongst both teams.
It's from Donegal that three of the men's squad hail from, in the form of Gerard McGlynn, Cartha Boyle and Adrian Devine, while Denise Cassidy is also in the ladies squad.
Cavan's Teresa King is also on the ladies team, while newly crowned WDF World Champion, Monaghan's Shane McGuirk, would also have been in the mix if it wasn't for a clash of dates in his darting calendar.
Moving down South, Kerry's Dale McCarthy, a winner of the INDO Irish National Singles this year, makes the men's squad alongside Waterford's trio of Dean Finn, Patrick Quinn and Eric Power, while Cork is also represented by Johnpaul Dowdall.
Over to the East, Leinster counties are well represented with Offaly's Stephen Rosney the new Ireland men's captain, while Dublin's Robyn Byrne has that honour for the women's team.
Rosney is joined in the men's squad by Carlow's Mark Cullen and Dublin's Killian McCormack and Lewis Ireland, while the ladies squad also has Dublin's Katie Sheldon and Celine Mahony amongst their ranks.
The West is also very much awake with Leitrim's Ray Mulvey and Olive McIntyre making both squads, with Galway's Caroline Breen also there on the ladies team, with her fellow county man Kevin Devaney the manager of both teams.
It's remarkable strength in numbers that will see both squads highly fancied to come back with some silverware from the Island Nations in Jersey next month.
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