'Luke Littler effect' inspiring Offaly's young darts players

Tuesday nights have been transformed in Edenderry in Co Offaly.

A darts room at the back of O'Donoghue’s pub has been buzzing for the last six weeks with unlikely customers; darts players aged 10 to 18 years old.

It is the latest venue across the country to see a surge in popularity in the sport.

The boom is mostly being attributed to the 'Luke Littler effect', after the recent successes of the English teenage darts sensation.

"He was a school kid up to fairly recently and to get to a world final at 16 years of age is just unheard of," enthused John Downey.

Mr Downey, a darts player for over 30 years and chairman of Edenderry Darts Club for 15 years, stepped away from the role to help set up the Edenderry Darts Youth Academy in February.

"I don't think we’ll see the likes of it again. Luke Littler is a role model for the kids and he’s an ambassador for darts. That’s what has the crowd here and I'm sure at other academies around Ireland, the UK and the whole world. It’s fantastic."

The academy is something Mr Downey had wanted to do for a long time. After seeing the impact Luke Littler was having on young people, he decided it was the right time to get it up and running.

"The very first night we had an open night and we were expecting 15 or maybe 20 kids. But that first night we had 44 kids, then over 50 and now we're over 60," according to Mr Downey.

His ten-year-old grandson Mikey said he enjoys playing with his friends, and the fact that his Grandad runs it.

"I like just coming down here, it splits up the day, and I like the training. I like Luke, he’s just very good for his age and I like watching him. He's probably one of the best 16-year-olds."

Twelve-year-old Sean has been playing darts since he was around five, as his