Minutes of General Meeting September, 24^th 2005.

The General Meeting of Cumann na mBunscol Náisiúnta was held in St. Patrick’s College of Education, Drumcondra  on Saturday, 24^th. September, 2005. Cathaoirleach Jim O’ Reilly welcomed all delegates.

The minutes of the AGM  2005 were distributed:  The adoption of the minutes was proposed by Tom Ryan ( Dublin ) and seconded by Dan O’ Flaherty ( Wexford )

Correspondence :

1)      Letter from Joan O’ Brien ( Dairygold ) expressing a desire to sponsor the Mini-Games in Leinster, Ulster and Connacht in a similar fashion to the Primary Game in Munster. The Provincial Councils should negotiate with Dairygold in relation to this matter.

2)       A request from the main GAA site to reband our website under their umbrella.

Matters Arising:

There was a lengthy discussion on Dairygold sponsorship. It costs about €40,000 to run the Calvita Primary Game. Munster receives €20,000 from Dairygold to run this series. The Munster Senior Council pays the remaining €20.000 to subsidise the Calvita Primary Game. Teachers have to devote a lot of their time in promoting these games. Dairygold get extremely good value for their sponsorship money as the following requirements are made:

1) The Calvita logo has to be on display at every match.

2) Primary Game photos have to appear in the match programmes.

3) Details of the Primary Game times have to appear on the tickets.

Each province will have different needs and will approach Dairygold  in different ways. Leinster have numerous promotions which they would like to discuss with Dairygold. The costing will vary from province to province.

Some delegates felt that the Calvita Primary Game was a useful and very worthwhile vehicle to promote Cumann na mBunscol and Gaelic Games. It provided great encouragement for younger players to train hard as they would be playing before an audience of 50,000 people.

Chairman’s Address:

This year had been overshadowed by the unexpected death of our esteemed treasurer Pat Trainor. Pat’s untimely death has left a void in our organisation. He is greatly missed not only by members of his family but also by the organisation as a whole. Pat’s role as treasurer will not be filled until our next AGM. Tom Ryan is acting as treasurer in the meantime.

The Go-Games were launched recently. County launches will take place in October. The Go-Games have been greatly researched and it has been established that children on smaller teams have a better chance of getting a touch of the ball. We’ll still be able to continue with our league matches. 

The National Handball Exhibition Games were held in Cavan this year and Jim thanked Malachy for all his hard work.

     Timmy has retired from his role as Mini-Sevens co-ordinator. Jim thanked Timmy for his many years of dedicated service. He also thanked the INTO for their sponsorship over the years. He urged all counties to advertise Allianz as we were receiving €100,000 per year in sponsorship.

The Roadstone Awards banquet will take place on 10^th. December. The tickets will cost €60.00 and accommodation in the Berkeley Court Hotel will cost €130.00 per room. President Mary McAleese will be in attendance to present the Pat Trainor Memorial Award.

The O’ Neill’s Awards are now in their second year. The closing date is 30^th. September and all entries should be sent to Tom Ryan.

Primary Schools’ Report:

The newly elected GAA President usually appoints a Primary Schools’ Workgroup to study the needs of Primary and Secondary Schools.

The last report was the Jack Boothman Report  and a few changes have occurred since then. It was requested that a copy of the Primary Schools’ Report be made available at our next AGM. The secretary was also asked to e-mail the Wish List which the National Executive had submitted to the Primary Schools’ Workgroup.

Coaching Grants:

It was felt by delegates that schools were not benefiting from the €10,000 coaching grant which was made available to counties three years ago. Each county had its own system in distributing this grant. In Waterford, the juvenile clubs applied for a grant for coaching in the schools but less than 50% of the schools were benefiting from this grant. In one school in Waterford, the Parents’ Association were paying for a coach to visit their school every fortnight. Their local juvenile club applied for a grant for two schools in the parish but they were refused the grant  because the third school in the parish was unable to get a coach. Delegates were urged that they should be more active and attend all Co. Board meetings and Coaching Games & Development meetings to ensure that we benefit from the various Coaching Games & Development Grants.  It’s up to our delegates at national and county level to pursue our interests.

Peter Horgan ( Croke Park) informed the meeting that every county has to submit a project to Croke Park and on the strength of this application, a grant is given. They send in requisition forms to prove what they did in order to get the balance of this money. The counties have to put an equal amount of money with this grant money and it may be used for Go-Games, coaching, equipment and transport.

Some delegates requested that the secretary write to Pat Daly in Croke Park for a brief written summary of what grants Cumann na mBunscol schools are entitled to. Others felt that the national secretary should automatically be e-mailed the minutes from the Coaching Games & Development meetings.

 Handball:

The National Handball Exhibition Games were played in Kingscourt, Co. Cavan where three alleys were made available. Malachy was disappointed with some counties who didn’t notify him that they were unable to attend. It deprives other schools of the opportunity of replacing them on the day. The whole programme has to be restructured as a result of their absence. It was requested that the medals be distributed earlier. This was possible if counties would submit their forms on time. It was also requested that the T-Shirts should be upgraded to jerseys. This matter would be discussed by the National Executive.

Mini-Sevens:

Many thanks to Moira Graham for organising the Mini-Sevens in Croke Park. The Dublin teachers’ attendance every Sunday was to be commended and the spirit of volunteerism was in a healthy state in Dublin. Our President, Malachy and the INTO President, Sheila Nunan were also in attendance every Sunday. The biggest problem with the Mini-Sevens is the demand for more tickets for family members. It was a disgrace that there was no ticket available for our President, Malachy.

     AGM 2006:

AGM 2006 will take place in Wexford on Saturday, 25^th. February, 2006. Only four officers on the national committee will be able to seek re-election i.e. Margaret, Jim, Richard and Paul.  Delegates were asked to think seriously about nominating new members for the 2006 AGM.

Tosach Maith:

Paul Duggan was working on a project to counteract obesity and it should be available shortly. It is hoped to approach sponsors with this project. Paul had attended the Go-Games Launch in Croke Park which he found very worthwhile and he encouraged all Coiste members to become involved.

Go-Games:

Peter Horgan (Croke Park) provided members with the dates for the Provincial Launches.

Leinster     3^rd. October                                   Connacht   4^th. October

Ulster         5^th. October                                  Munster     17^th. October

Schools would be supplied with O’ Neill’s vouchers, €60, €90 and €120 depending on the size of the school.

Three games would be played in Hurling and Football   U 8, U10 and U12

All ground hurling Small pitches

56 children play at one time on an average GAA pitch.

Games are progressive throughout. Children are made concentrate on the weaker foot and weaker hand for Smart Touch Football.

The First Touch sliotar is quite big and light which makes it easier to hit and travel.

Rules are not set in stone. Every child gets a game. No subs and children play in different positions. There are 4x ¼ games and the child plays in a different position in each game. More goalposts will be needed and this could be a problem.

Tom Ryan said that the GO-Games had been up and running in Dublin for some time. Teachers have a huge role to play in promoting the Go-Games in schools.

AOB:

The question was raised as to why Croke Park hadn’t become involved like the soccer in the Sports Partnership. Some delegates wanted to know if the Azzuri helmets were authorised as safe by Croke Park. Gerry Mc Donnell had received a letter stating that these helmets had the C.E. mark.

That concluded the business of the meeting.