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Minutes of the Annual General Meeting of Irish Wheelchair Association - Sport held in the IWA Resource and Outreach Centre, Clontarf, Dublin. 28 February 2009
The chairperson called the meeting to order at 2.20pm
Apologies: The honorary secretary read the list of apologies.
Minutes: The minutes of the 2008 annual general meeting were presented to the meeting by John Finn.
Matters arising: No matters arising. Willie Roche proposed acceptance of the minutes and Pat Furlong seconded this motion.
Chairperson's Address: The chairperson thanked everyone for supporting the AGM. He congratulated all the paralympic athletes especially the medallists. He wished Mairead Farquharson (ex Director of Sport) well and thanked her for all her hard work. He welcomed Nicholas Hamill the new Director of Sport. He said as chairperson and along with all the members of the Executive Committee he was satisfied we were doing the best we could with limited resources. He thanked all coaches and volunteers for their support and also the staff. He concluded by wishing everyone the best of luck in their chosen sport for the coming year.
Honorary Treasurer's Report: The honorary treasurer presented the figures to the meeting. He also spoke briefly about the schools inclusion project. Ronan Rooney asked how a surplus of €171,765 in 2007 became a deficit of €2017 in 2008. The treasurer explained that this money was spent on sports equipment. The treasurer said we were lucky to have maintained our funding level from the Irish Sports Council this year but remarked that there would be a definite need for fundraising in the coming year especially for international travel to events. Grainne O'Regan proposed acceptance of the accounts and Willie Roche seconded the proposal.
Address from Gerry McMahon - Chairperson of Irish Wheelchair Association:
Gerry thanked the Director of Sport for inviting him to the meeting. He outlined his army
background as Chief of Staff of the Defence Forces. He joined the Board of Irish Wheelchair
Association in 2002 and became Chairperson in 2007. As a sports fanatic himself he felt very
appreciative of Irish Wheelchair Association athletes. As an organisation IWA is under severe
pressure financially with cutbacks since last October. The Board have ring fenced funding for
services but this may not always be possible. Funding for staff is also to be ring fenced. The
Chairperson thanked his fellow board members and said that the main board deeply
appreciate the work being done in sport both nationally and internationally.
CEO's Address: The CEO thanked Mairead Farquharson for her unstinting devotion to sport. She confirmed that Mairead Farquharson would return to IWA to work on a project as part of the strategic planning objective to raise the profile of the organisation in advance of the 50th anniversary celebrations next year. She is delighted that Nicky Hamill has succeeded in the role of Director of Sport and expressed the view that he was already an influential member of the senior management team making sure that sport is always brought to the fore at meetings. €1,500,000 has been lost in funding in the past year. Our own fundraising amounts to €1,000,000 approximately and it looks as if the situation is going to get worse. The Board will endeavour not to let this impact on services, particularly in the area of assisted living p. She asked for assistance from all in sport to raise funding, awareness and our profile so these essential services remain for extremely vulnerable and dependent eople. She also spoke about the schools inclusion project and her deep commitment to it despite an unsuccessful meeting with the Minister for Education. She spoke about Beijing in glowing terms and said she did not have the words to describe how amazing it was.
Election of Executive Committee, Officers and Members
John Finn was returned as Chairperson unopposed.
Nominated: Ciaran Nicholson
Seconded: Johnny Dempsey
Mary Deane was returned as Honorary Secretary unopposed.
Nominated: David Gomm
Seconded: Jimmy Byrne
Jim Hayes was returned as Honorary Treasurer unopposed.
Nominated: Ciaran Nicholson
Seconded: Christy O'Neill
As there were four nominations for two positions the committee appointed three scrutineers
and proceeded with a ballot by members
Scrutineers: David Gomm, Grainne O'Regan and Ciaran Tighe
The nominations were:
| Name |
Proposed by |
Seconded by |
| Garrett Culliton |
Johnny Dempsey |
Grainne O'Regan |
| John McCarthy |
Ronan Rooney |
John Finn |
| Aidan Knight |
John Finn |
James Hayes |
| Eddie Keane |
Gerry McGivern |
Derek McDonald |
Garrett Culliton and Aidan Knight were elected
Election of Selectors
As there were five nominations for four positions two scrutineers were selected: Ciaran Tighe
and David Gomm
The nominations were:
| Name |
Proposed by |
Seconded by |
| Ciaran Nicholson |
Garrett Culliton |
Nicky Hamill |
| Grainne O'Regan |
John McCarthy |
John Finn |
| Ciaran McLoughlin |
Mary Deane |
Christy O'Neill |
| Eddie Keane |
Gerry McGivern |
Derek McDonald |
| Lorraine Lee |
Angie Ryan |
Sean O'Driscoll |
Ciaran Nicholson, Grainne O'Regan, Ciaran McLoughlin and Eddie Keane were elected
Review 2008 - Director of Sport
The Director of Sport presented a comprehensive account of a very full year of home and
international events including the Beijing Paralympics. He thanked Garreth Greene, the
Executive Committee, the Council, the Coaches, the Co-ordinators, CEO, the Board of IWA,
the Senior Management Team, the volunteers, parents and especially the IWA-Sport staff.
Calendar of Events 2009 was presented. Some dates may change during the year and are
still to be confirmed. Members were advised to use the website for updates or contact the
sports office
IWA Sports HQ update
The Director of Sport spoke of how the gym has been extended and upgraded and introduced Ciaran Tighe the new Manager
Open Forum
- Eileen O'Mahony spoke very warmly about Jimmy Byrne and what a loss he is to the Executive. She complimented him on all the work he has done and the support he has given to IWA over the years
- Ciaran Nicholson suggested that a 'lifetime achievement' award be instigated and that the first recipient be Jimmy Byrne. He also said the captions on the photos in the annual report were to be welcomed. It made people more recognizable
- Willie Roche thanked the committee for the new bowling mats, but said he is sorry the bowls section time in the sports hall is limited although he understands there are many demands for use of the sports hall
- Ronan Rooney queried some of the administration costs - the staff costs were explained. He also commented that a lot of the initiatives were Dublin centered and west of the Shannon felt abandoned
- David Gomm remarked that the schools inclusion project is a great initiative
- Derek McDonald said that he along with other parents was apprehensive about sending their children to Beijing but he complimented the whole team on making it a fantastic experience especially Auveen Wilson, David Malone and Jimmy Byrne
- Joe Reeves called for more transparency within each section, specifically his section (rugby) about how fundraising money was spent
- A member asked could anyone attend the basketball training on Thursday nights
- Aidan Knight said if anyone is in a position to help out with the Dublin Swifts he would be delighted to hear from them
The Chairperson thanked everyone for attending and closed the meeting
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