2011 AGM

The 126th Annual General Meeting of Clonliffe Harriers A.C. took place in the Morton Stadium last night. It was a well attended meeting with good contributions from the floor.

The club Honorary Secretary in his address outlined the highlights of the historic Clonliffe 125th anniversary year in particular the anniversary dinner held in the Crowne Plaza Hotel in October, the Clonliffe 2 Mile which had enjoyed its best numbers participating in nearly a decade, the Clonliffe 125 Track and Field Grand Prix which featured the Morton Mile and the Brother at your side Clonliffe Schools Cross Country. The secretary reminded the meeting that at last year’s AGM the body of the club had indicated a preference for the club focusing on athletic events as fundraisers and with this in mind he was appealing for the support from all members of Clonliffe to support the Clonliffe Harriers Christmas Cracker 5 k which would take place on Sunday the 18th of December. The Honorary Secretary also thanked the club’s sponsors for their support, he thanked the club’s coaches, athletes, his fellow officers and the committee.

The club captain outlined the highlights of a very successful year and in particular the retaining of the National Premier League title by the men’s team for the fourth year in succession and he highlighted three standout performers being Brian Gregan U/23 European Silver Medallist in the 400 metres and World Student Game finalist, Alistair Cragg World Track and Field 5000 metre finalist and also setting a new National 5000 metre record in Brussels of 13.03 and Mark Kenneally who ran the qualifying time for the London Olympics with a time of 2:13.55. The club captain also thanked the coaches for their very hard work throughout the year, the athletes, the committee and the race director of the Brother Schools Cross Country and Morton Mile Meet.

The ladies captain reported on a very successful year the highlight being the winning by the ladies team of division 1 of the track and field league and promotion to the premier division, the team finishing 1st in the Raheny Road Relays, 3rd in the Dublin Senior Cross Country and 5th in a most competitive National Half Marathon. The ladies captain thanked the coaches and athletes for their time and energy and in particular paid tribute to Eugene Coppinger for his energy and enthusiasm.

The juvenile captain reported on the continued growth of the juvenile section of the club which has huge numbers in attendance on training nights particularly on Tuesday nights. She thanked the various coaches involved and outlined the highlights of the year highlighting in particular the initiation of a new inter-club series with Raheny Shamrocks, Skerries A.C. and Lusk A.C. in the spring months, the juveniles trip to Wales in April, she then highlighted the 13 national medal winning performances by the club’s athletes and teams and congratulated the juvenile athletes who had received international recognition during the year.

The club treasurer produced the annual account and report for the year ended 30th of September 2011 pointing out that the club basically was in a healthy position financially, he outlined the steps which were being taken in order to ensure the continued stability of the club and stressed the importance of members to support the club’s fundraising activities and in particular the upcoming road races. The treasurer thanked the club’s sponsors for their continued contribution to the club, he thanked his assistant treasurers, the committee and members of the club.

The President in his address to the AGM paid tribute to all of the people who had made the club such a success in this 125th year highlighting the involvement of the club with the British & Irish Master’s International, the Brother at your side Schools Cross Country, the Morton Mile Meet, the Clonliffe 2, he thanked the club members involved with the Clonliffe 125th anniversary dinner, he thanked all of the club’s sponsors, the various coaches, in particular he paid tribute to the work carried out by the juvenile captain with the juvenile section of the club, he thanked Dominic Brannigan for his ongoing work on the History of Clonliffe Harriers.

The following officers and committee members were elected:

Honorary President – Paddy Marley

Honorary Secretary – Noel Guiden

Honorary Treasurer – Paddy Tuite

Club Captain – Joe Cooper

Ladies Captain – Pamela Cooper

Committee members: Stephen Harkness, Noreen Keane and Johnny O’Leary

There was lively debate in respect of the two Motions which were before the AGM and after the debate both Motions were passed as follows:

1. ‘That the following subscriptions apply for membership of Clonliffe Harriers A.C.: Senior and Master membership €150.00 per annum, Juvenile membership €90.00 per annum with €30.00 to cover race entry fees which can be collected in two instalments during the course of the year, student/unemployed €100.00 per annum’.

2. ‘That Article 5.1 of the Consittution of the Athletic Association of Ireland be amended to provide for membership of the Board on behalf of the Irish Master Athletes Association by the insertion of the following provision at 5.8:

A nominee of the Irish Master Athletes Association who shall have a vote on the Board, may not hold that position for more than two consecutive terms.

The existing Section 5.8 to reach 5.9, 5.9 to read 5.10, 5.10 to read 5.11, 5.11 to read 5.12 and 5.12 to read 5.13’.

Under the heading of any other business the body of the meet fully supported a proposal that on health and safety grounds that the use of headphones/personal music systems during Clonliffe training times on the track in the Morton Stadium be prohibited. There was also a discussion with regard to race entry fees for National Championships held in conjunction with road races and the meeting agreed that it would be appropriate that the committee should take up this issue with Athletics Ireland.