FORMER England rugby player and Dancing on Ice star Kyran Bracken visited the Island last week to officially launch the ice skating rink at the Villa Marina.

At the launch, on Friday, November 26, Kyran took to the ice with former Olympian Andrea Law and put on a faultless routine which ended in Andrea being twirled around Kyran's neck by her feet.

After the impressive performance, which the pair had only had a week to perfect, and a performance from Andrea's daughter, Anna Law, 11, the rink was declared open to the public.

Isleofman.com reporter Tessa Hawley caught up with Kyran to talk about what the ice rink means to the Isle of Man. 

Since winning Dancing on Ice in 2007 ice skating has become a huge part of Kyran's life - so much so that he actually co-owns the temporary ice rink in the Villa Marina Gardens.

This winter marks the third time the rink has been brought to the Isle of Man and the third time that Sure have sponsored it. Following a successful run last winter the decision was made to bring the rink back again this year.

Kyran explained: "Last year there were so many people here on the Island asking us to come back. We didn't know whether we would come back or not. We had to make sure it worked financially.

"This is a massive massive project. We didn't know what we were getting into first time around. We know better now and we want to make it bigger, better and more family orientated.

"We want to build on the success of last year. Out of all the ice rinks we've done – Jersey, Guernsey, and the Isle of Man – the Isle of Man was by far the best. I think maybe because the Isle of Man has never had an ice rink."

According to Kyran ice skating is something the whole family can get involved in. He said: "The good thing about skating is that it's the sort of thing you can do with your mum, your dad, your uncle, your brother. It's the sort of thing you can do for fitness or it's the sort of thing you can do with your mates and have a bit of a laugh at each other."

Beginners are always welcome at the rink. Kyran said: "If you can walk you can ice skate. You get a feel for it and once you start getting it you can do a little bit more and a little bit more and you think 'Oh I quite like that, I want to do more of that'. That's what happened to me. I'd never heard about Dancing on Ice so I got on the ice and couldn't do it. The more I fought the more I learnt and the more I liked it. I got the bug."

As well as skating for fun ice skating is also good exercise. Kyran explained: "Ice skating is really good for fitness. When I did Dancing on Ice I lost half a stone. You lose so much weight because of the core stability and the fact you use muscles you've never used before. I would always go to the ice rink and use it as my chance to train. I'd rather do something I like than go to the gym or for a run as that gets boring."

There are nine ice skating sessions per day starting at 9am and finishing at 10pm. Trained staff are on the ice at all times to assist skaters if they fall over or injure themselves.

Kyran is hopeful that residents will get behind the rink to ensure that it can be brought over again in the future. He concluded: "We need the public to get behind it and hopefully it wont be a case of went last year won't go again."

The Sure Skate ice rink is open until Monday, January 3, 2010. There are nine sessions per day, each lasting an hour, beginning at 9am. Tickets cost £7 online and £7.50 on the door. The first session of the day is priced at £6 online and £6.50 on the door. Sure customers can skate for half price every Thursday after 6pm.

Andrea will be running ice skating master classes from Monday, December 13, to Friday, December 17. These sessions last either half an hour or an hour and are £16 or £30 respectively. They are open to everyone but places need to be booked as soon as possible. Call 07624 251251 for more information or e-mail sureskateiom@gmail.com.

Also see: A beginners attempt at ice skating with isleofman.com and Kyran Bracken - WITH VIDEO