Sir, – Roe McDermott’s article “All the lonely men: how to survive the ‘friendship recession’” (People, September 21st) highlights the “friendship recession” among men in Ireland and internationally. For many years, the advice to young people of all ages, looking for a partner was “Join a club”. I played five-a-side football for decades but age and bad knees eventually caught up. After a number of years of isolation and growing loneliness, I joined my local tennis club. To say that it has been transformational is not an exaggeration. Tennis affords huge opportunities for casual chat, high levels of interaction with both men and women and, certainly in my experience, a real chance for positive emotional connection. We are particularly lucky in the club to have a social first, competitive second approach with new members, which has helped me personally and many more recent members to build strong relationships and indeed true friendships. – Yours, etc,
AIDAN STACEY,
Chair,
Glenalbyn Tennis Club,
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Stillorgan,
Co Dublin.
