AGM 2021 Report
The Claregalway GAA club AGM took place on Sunday the 30th of January in the Knockdoemore clubhouse.
The full minutes of the meeting are at the link below, as are the Secretary and Chairpersons report.
While many important matters were discussed(See Full Minutes above) amongst the attendees the key motion which received the most discussion and backing was below. Motion 1 which was similiar in nature passed with a unanimous vote.
Motion – No. 2
“In light of ongoing growth in Club Membership, with ever increasing demands for additional facilities for our members, Claregalway GAA Club should undertake a detailed Review of its 10 year Development Plan – Towards 2030. This review should revise the substance, schedule and progress of the Existing plan and agree prioritisation in response to current and projected demands. Given the increases in population and residential housing forecast for the area and the everchanging demographics and dynamics of the Schools and the Community, this review should be conducted across the entire catchment area of the Club, including but not limited to, all of the Club’s properties. It should entail a thorough examination of all Public and Community Amenity Plans for the area. The Review should engage with all necessary GAA, Club and Community partners including Schools, Local authorities, Trustees, Landowners and representative Groups. The Review should be conducted with due urgency and summarised into a Revised Plan , after consultation with all Statutory, Grant-Aid and Financial agencies.
The Plan should be submitted to the Club membership at a special EGM for approval before May 1st 2022. The Review should be conducted by an enhanced Voluntary Development Committee including the Club Officers and Trustee Representatives and it should have available all Professional Advisors necessary on Engineering, Planning and Financial aspects.”
Proposed by Club Exec and Development Committee
By way of introduction to this motion, Alan Moran provided a brief status update on the Lakeview Astro project as follows;
- RnaG have not committed to funding the project . Ongoing engagement.
- Due to delays, the Tenders is out of date. We have to retender.
- Costs are increasing; > €1M
- New eTender will be more complex; >€1M
- Lakeview circumstances are changing.
Due to these developments, the Club Exec and Development Committee propose to review our 10 Year Dev Plan.
John Morrin introduced this motion and spoke on the matter.
Several people raised questions relating to Trustees.
It was confirmed by Val Hanley (Chairperson of the Lakeview Trustees) that the majority of Trustees supported the Lakeview Astro project and a majority could act on behalf of the Trustees.
Alan Moran reminded the meeting that the Trustees were not the stumbling block in this process and that the main issue was lack of funds at this time.
John Morrin informed the meeting that Lakeview Trustees had suffered most in the whole process. They had been put in an unenviable position by objectors and had been harassed to act against the club’s wishes.
It was acknowledged that the objectors had undermined support for the project within RnaG with their letter of early November. This and other actions taken by some objectors has delayed funding at a critical time. The delay resulted in the eTenders process lapsing which requires us to enter a new eTender process.
John Morrin confirmed that all of our local political representatives supported this project and sentiment within RnaG is moving in our favour.
The motion was put to the floor and was carried by majority.
The committee will fulfil this motion over the coming months and present a report to an EGM of the club prior to May the 1st
As well as the discussion around Motion 2 a considerable discussion took place in relation to the filling of officer roles within the club. While there are a significant number of people involved in voluntary capacity throughout the club the filling of officer roles at AGM’s has proven to be challenging the past number of years. The club is forecast to continue to grow in numbers and indeed activity over the coming years. To maintain the momentum the workload of the administration of club activities needs to be shared amongst more people.
“If everyone does a little, no one has to do a lot”
Related to the discussion Tony Stephens suggested that more needs to be done to develop the Irish language within the club and to integrate some basic phrases in kids games and training.
If you have any interest in helping the club grow and develop and may be interested in helping out at officer or at a committee level OR would be interested in forming a group within the club structure to develop the use of Irish within the club please get in touch with any serving officer or by contacting claregalwaygaaclub@gmail.com
Thanks to all who attended the meeting and provided inputs into the discussions that were held.
