The organising Sub-Committee is also indebted to the management of the Glasshouse Hotel for their assistance and professionalism in ensuring that the event ran so smoothly, and was such a huge success, both financially and socially. Many thanks also to the Quiz Master, Cameron Giles, who did his usual superb job, and to Peter Gillespie who set the questions.

All monies raised have been lodged to the Stuart Mangan Trust Fund, and Stuart’s family has responded that they are overwhelmed by the thoughtfulness and generosity of the friends and members of the club.

Anyone wishing to make a personal financial contribution may do so by lodging to the Stuart Mangan Trust Account at AIB, Pearse Square, Fermoy, Co. Cork ( Account Number 17569101, Sort Code 93-60-81).

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The new Club Constitution was unanimously adopted by the members attending the EGM. President Conor Frazer in his address to the members paid tribute to the efforts of immediate past president Tom Gilligan and his sub-committee who were responsible for drafting the constitution which has now been modernised to reflect the present Club structures and standards.

The AGM was then held immediately after the EGM and the meeting proceeded under the new constitution. Outgoing President Conor Frazer thanked all of the hard working committee members and acknowledged the success of the season on the field in all areas of the club from Juveniles to Youths to Seniors.

The Hon. Treasurer Trevor Sweeney presented the Club Accounts for the year to April 30th, 2009 and the President thanked him for his excellent work over the last year. The Accounts were adopted by the meeting.

Then followed the election of officers – the first of which was the appointment of new Club President Brendan Leahy who took over the chair from Conor Frazer. Brendan in his address to the meeting stated how important ‘rugby football’ is to him and that his presidency will be about ‘football’. Brendan has a long association with the club as a player and as a coach. He worked for several years in the youth section, the highlight of which was winning the U18 All Ireland Cup a few short years ago and the role he played along with Joe Walsh in bringing that side to glory! Brendan has also coached the senior side in years gone by and we in the club are all hopeful for a bright season ahead under his guiding hand as President.

Elected to Senior Vice President was John Kane and Junior Vice President was John Davey.

There are a number of new faces to the committee this year which is great to see – Gavin Foley and Adrian McHale.

Stepping down from the committee after several years of hard work were Claire Storey and past presidents Aidan Buckley and Michael O’Hehir. The President thanked them most sincerely for their service to the Club.

The night like the season were a success both on and off the field. There was a large gathering in The Glasshouse after the meeting to welcome the new and bid farewell to those (temporarily) moving on!

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The draft constitution was presented at the monthly meeting in March and some amendments were recommended.

The amended document was tabled at the April Committee meeting and was unanimously endorsed by the meeting. The document will now be presented to an E.G.M for ratification. This meeting will be held prior to the Club’s A.G.M on Friday, May 15th.

Constitution for Sligo Rugby Football Club (Word, 111k)

The Club’s International ticket committee made up of Tom Gilligan, Brendan Leahy, Rory Raftery and club trustees Brian Mullan and Vincent O’Brien advises that applications will be considered from all members, however priority will be given to the following applicants;

• Members
• 400 club members
• Workers in the club
• Sponsors

This year the committee also draws your attention to the following – ticket applications will not be considered unless the following criteria have been met;

• All applications must be in writing on the official form
• Please include payment (cheque or cash)  for each game – that is a separate cheque for each game
• Having applied for tickets, your payment will be processed unless you give at least two weeks notice that you wish to cancel your order – to the address on the bottom of the form

The committee also advises that tickets are issued individually to members who apply for them. The individual to whom the ticket is issued should sit in the allocated seat. If for some reason you are not going to use the ticket yourself then you should advise a member of the ticket committee and return the ticket in advance of the game. Any deviation from this will only be allowed with the express permission of the ticket committee.

Please return your completed application form to Rory Raftery, Anvil House, Burton Street, Sligo before October 31st, 2008.

The members of the committee will do their utmost to ensure that the international tickets get to those of our members who are the most deserving of them. They will be distributed in a fair and equitable manner after much consideration of all of the correctly completed applications.

The committee wishes Irish team well in the upcoming Autumn series and lets hope that the 6 Nations will prove to be a fruitful one! We hope that all our attending members enjoy the rugby and festivities and trust that you will represent the club well on your travels!

The first publication launched was a 60 page Yearbook for the 2008/9 season, which is edited by immediate past President, and last season’s P.R.O., Tom Gilligan, and is full of interesting articles, and photographs of club events, both on and off the playing fields. At the meeting, Gilligan paid a special tribute this week to the President, Conor Frazer, and to the Grounds Chairman, Declan Lynch, who were responsible for sourcing all the advertisements in the Yearbook. “Both Conor and Declan did a tremendous job in securing the advertisements, which ensured that the Yearbook is a commercial success, and I would urge all our members to repay the generosity of our sponsors and advertisers by supporting them at every opportunity throughout the season.”

Also launched on Thursday evening was the eagerly awaited Sligo RFC Football Plan (2008/2013). This Plan, which charts the pathway of rugby in the club for the next 5 years, has been in gestation since January last. A very successful seminar on Rugby in Sligo, which elicited information as to how the club should progress, was held then in the Glasshouse Hotel, and was attended by 60 club members. Subsequently a Sub-Committee, chaired by the then Club President, Tom Gilligan was set up to draft the Plan. The 32 page Plan booklet contains a Foreword from the Chairman, the Sligo RFC Mission Statement, the Aims and Objectives of the Club, Senior Football Development Strategies (for all adult teams), Strategies for the Promotion and Development of U-20 Rugby, Strategies for Maximising the Development, and for the Retention of Youth and Juvenile Players, Strategies for the Development of Tag Rugby and of Women’s Rugby, Strategies for the Recruitment of Indigenous Coaches, Strategies for the Recruitment of Referees, Strategies for the Recruitment of Volunteers in the Club, and Strategies for the Promotion of Social Events for Members. There is also a chapter detailing the state of the art facilities which will be available when the club re-locates to Cloverhill.

Both Gilligan and Frazer thanked all members involved in the publication of both books and would also like to thank the Glasshouse for their hospitality.

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Development Sub-Committee Chairman, Des Butler, gave a detailed report on the club’s plans to build and develop new facilities at Cloverhill. Des received congratulations from the meeting on his outstanding work, as did the other members of the Sub-Committee.

In his financial report, outgoing Hon. Treasurer, Jimmy Staunton, who did not seek re-election, reported on a very healthy balance, which saw the club declare a surplus for the fourth successive year. Jimmy received many tributes for his excellent work over the past four years, as did Assistant Hon. Treasurer, Clare Storey, and Rory Raftery, who gives so generously of his professional accountancy expertise to the club.

Outgoing President, Tom Gilligan, who was standing down, after two years in office, thanked all who had worked with such passion and commitment for the club during his Presidency. As the club had progressed, the workload had also increased, but this was not matched by extra volunteers, and he felt that some of the present volunteers were in danger of burn-out.

The President paid glowing tributes to the club’s Joint Sponsorship Chairmen, Michael O’Hehir and Jonathan Hill for the very generous sponsorship of their own two companies, The Glasshouse Hotel and Miximo respectively, and for having the club’s other main sponsor, Martin Reilly Motors, as well as the club’s supporting sponsors on board. Jonathan did not seek re-election for the coming season. The President congratulated the trio responsible for guarding the purse strings on their prudent handling of the club’s financial affairs and paid a special tribute to Justin Harte on his superb work in organising the discos, and he also commended the work of Chief steward, Niall Draper and House Chairman, John Kane.

He also congratulated the triumvirate who head up the juvenile section in the club, John Pender, David Murray and Ronnie O’Hara, on the excellent manner in which the section is run, and also congratulated Youth Section Chairman,  John Davey on his work. He congratulated the U-12’s,the U-13’s and the U-14’s on winning their respective Connacht Cups, and the U-18 team for winning the Connacht League,and he also congratulated Aaron Spring on his selection for the Ireland Youths team and Aaron, Rory Kerins and Tadgh Power on their selection for Connacht.

He concluded by thanking the outgoing committee for their outstanding work, paying special tributes to Development Sub-Committee Chairman, Des Butler, and Hon. Secretary , Michael Storey, and by wishing a very successful future to the incoming President, Conor Frazer, the new Senior Vice-President, Brendan Leahy, and the incoming Junior Vice-President, John Kane.

The following were elected to serve on the Committee for the 2008-2009 season;
Trustees: Vincent O’Brien, Brian Mullan, Declan Dunne.
President :Conor Frazer, Senior Vice-President: Brendan Leahy, Junior Vice-President, John Kane, Hon. Secretary: Orla Gilligan, Hon. Treasurer: Trevor Sweeney, Chairman Sponsorship Sub-Committee: Michael O’Hehir, House Chairman: Justin Harte, Bar Chairman, Mick Lucey, Membership Secretary: Rory Raftery, Hon. Fixtures Secretary, Eamonn McGowan, Social Committee Chairman: Niall Draper, Connacht Branch Rep.: Michael Storey, Chairman of Development Sub-Committee: Des Butler, Juvenile Chairman: Ronnie O’Hara, Youth Chairperson: Ber Dunne, Senior Players’ Rep.: Jamie Bowes, Joint Volunteers’ Co-Ordinators: Niall Draper ,Declan Lynch, Connacht Branch Delegate: Michael Storey, Kit Officer: John Kane, Members elected from Floor: Clare Storey, Tony Delahunty,  Aidan Buckley.

The Development Sub-Committee is Des Butler [Chairman], Conor Frazer, Tom Gilligan, Michael O’Hehir, John Davey, Brendan Leahy, Michael Storey, Rory Raftery.

It is probably appropriate, given the ever increasing Juvenile and Youth membership in the club, that these two sections provided the season’s highlights, with the U-12 team winning the Connacht blitz, the U-13 team winning the Connacht Cup, and the U-14’s winning the Connacht Cup also. The U-18 team were victorious in the Connacht league. The club was honoured by the selection of 16 year old Aaron Spring on the Ireland Youth [U-18] side, and by the selection of Aaron, Rory Kerins and Tadgh Power on Connacht squads.

There will be a number of changes at the helm for the coming season. Outgoing President, Tom Gilligan, after two years in office, is stepping down, while current Hon. Secretary, Michael Storey, is also taking a well deserved break after three years in this position. Hon. Treasurer, Jimmy Staunton is another who is not seeking re-election, so there will be a number of new faces at the top table. Last season’s club captain, Jamie Livingstone, has returned to his native New Zealand, so there will also be a newcomer  to fill this position.

All fully paid up members are entitled to attend the AGM, and given the record membership in the club at present, a very big attendance is anticipated.