SECRETARY’S  REPORT  TO  ANNUAL GENERAL  MEETING

25^TH. FEBRUARY,  2006

Ø             ADMINISTRATION:

An Coiste Náisiúnta met on several occasions since the AGM in Armagh. The meetings to a large extent concentrated on Allianz, the Roadstone Awards, Primary Schools’ Report, the Go – Games, Tosach Maith, the Website, Handball, the O’ Neill’s Competition and the Mini – Sevens.

Ø             ALLIANZ:

• We would like to thank Allianz for renewing their sponsorship with us for three more years. We are delighted to accept a three year deal worth €300,000. A special word of thanks to Caroline Meany, Damien O’ Neill and Michael Nolan in Allianz who gave us great help. Counties should show their appreciation by advertising the Allianz logo whenever possible. As a means of encouragement, Allianz projects were entered into the PR category of the Roadstone Awards. There will be no grants for counties who didn’t make a PR submission.

Ø             ROADSTONE:

• The Roadstone Awards took place in the Berkeley Court Hotel on Saturday, 10^th. December, 2005. It was a resounding success.
• Eamonn Mullen has stepped down as Roadstone co-ordinator and he was succeeded by Paul Duggan who did a marvellous job on the night of the Awards.
• We would like to thank Eamonn for his long service to Cumann na mBunscol and we acknowledge his huge contribution over the years. His honesty and integrity shone through on many occasions even in difficult times. He made a great impression as delegate to Central Council and it is very sad to see him moving on.
• Many thanks to Marty Morrissey, David Roche and Ronnie Delany who met with the National Committee on numerous occasions to discuss the Roadstone Awards.

• A new category was introduced in memory of Pat. It was called the “Pat Trainor Memorial Award. “ County committees nominated a Cumann na mBunscol officer who had done trojan work in the promotion of Gaelic Games.
• Congratulations to Michael Hanly, County Secretary of Cumann na mBunscol an Dúin, on winning this prestigious award.
• We invited President Mary McAleese as Guest of Honour and she presented the Pat Trainor Memorial Award to Michael Hanly.
• Pat Trainor is greatly missed by all members of the Coiste Náisiúnta, Coiste  Uladh and Coiste Aontroim. Pat made a huge contribution to Cumann na mBunscol over the years not only in his role as Treasurer but in many other positions as well. He was a trojan worker and he was very organised in whatever job he undertook. Even though he was a very responsible individual, Pat also had a very humorous side to him and he often kept members entertained with his various jokes and funny stories. We extend our sincere sympathy to his wife Ann and family. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam.
• Unfortunately Roadstone have decided to terminate their sponsorship of the awards after a long association of eight years with Cumann na mBunscol. 
• A special word of thanks to Roadstone for their sponsorship of the event, especially Managing Director, Mr. Frank Byrne and former Managing Director, Mr. Michael Grogan.  The Roadstone Awards have grown into a fantastic social occasion and the stature of the awards ceremony is largely due to the contribution of Roadstone.
•  We are actively seeking a new sponsor for this prestigious event and hopefully the awards ceremony will continue to flourish.

Ø             PRIMARY SCHOOLS’ REPORT:

• Cumann na mBunscol Náisiúnta attended a meeting in Croke Park on Wednesday, 9^th. March. We prioritised our wish list for the Primary Schools’ Workgroup and they provided us with a detailed account of their report. A preliminary copy of this Schools’ Report was e-mailed to the each county secretary as requested at the General Meeting.

Ø             GO – GAMES:

• The National Launch for Go Games was on September 14^th.
• Provincial and County Launches on the “Go Games”  took  place in October, 2005.

• Schools received O’Neill’s vouchers instead of equipment

• The “Go Games” were up and running in Dublin.
• The Go –Games are club orientated.
• The clubs hope to work with schools in promoting Go Games rules and skills.
• It is planned to promote the Under 8’s games first.
• Pat Daly suggested that Mini-Sevens be played as a Go-Game.
• Cumann na mBunscol felt that they should have been more informed as to what was happening as a matter of courtesy
• Cumann na mBunscol would continue running their school leagues.

Ø             TOSACH  MAITH:

• Cumann na mBunscol produced a package called “Tosach Maith” to counteract obesity.
• The possibility of such an initiative would promote physical activity and health through Gaelic games.
• It targeted the 4-8 year olds.
• The package is presently with a number of potential sponsors.  
• It is essential that we be seen to be at the forefront of the battle with obesity.  Hopefully a sponsor will be found to promote the package.
• When seeking sponsorship we should make the sponsors aware of the numbers participating in our games and the number of hours spent by teachers in the promotion of our Gaelic Games.

Ø             WEBSITE;

• GAA website: the move of www.scoilsport.org to the GAA website would be a slow process.
• A massive amount of time would be needed to upload it and format pages.

Ø             HANDBALL:

• Dates for 2006:    County Finals to be played by January 31^st             

                                  Provincial Finals to be played by February 28^th

• Girls’ All-Ireland Display in Croke Park on March 11^th  
• Boys’ All-Ireland Display in Croke Park on March 25^th
• Meal Allowance in 2006 for Regional Finals would be €8 per player
• Travel Allowance would be 50c per mile for Regional Finals.

Ø               O’ NEILL’S COMPETITION:

• The O’Neills Competition had been a great success. Tom Ryan is to be congratulated for his contribution to this venture. The closing date for next year’s competition will be June 30^th 2006.
• Application forms may be downloaded from our website www.scoilsport.org
• All projects to be sent to

                                                  Mr.Tom Ryan,192 Gracepark Rd.,Drumcondra,Dublin 9.

Phone: 01 8374319(H),   01 8477762(S),   087 2857669(M),   E-mail: tomryan@gaa.ie

Ø             MINI – SEVENS:

• Timmy Maher stepped down as national co-ordinator after many years of dedicated service. We would like to thank Timmy for all his hard work and commitment over the years. His contribution was immense and he’ll be a hard act to follow.
• Jim O’ Reilly agreed to act as Mini-Sevens co-ordinator for 2005-2006.

• The national coordinator is elected at National Committee level and not at our AGM

• Moira Graham is liaison officer for the Mini-Sevens
• Jim’s first year with the Mini-Sevens was very successful due to the great support which he received from the Dublin helpers.
• Details on Mini-Sevens are now available on our website www.scoilsport.org
• Jim was disappointed that the Mini-Sevens rules weren’t strictly adhered to as he discovered  three girls from the same school on the Camogie team and two boys from the same school on the Hurling team.
• These problems should have been resolved at regional level.

As I leave office after five years as secretary, I wish to express my thanks especially to the staff in Croke Park, the INTO, Allianz, Roadstone and all the county and provincial committees, particularly the secretaries. The latter are the people who make things tick. Their commitment to the development of sport must be commended. I hope the work of the many people who I met and worked with at national level will be rewarding and fruitful over the next few years. I enjoyed my job as secretary  which was a very demanding but worthwhile experience. I must congratulate all the secretaries and PROs who embraced the e-mail. It was a slow process but very worthwhile as advanced technology enables express delivery of all information via e-mail and website use.  I made friends with people from the four corners of Ireland as well as our Cumann na mBunscol officers in London and Hertfordshire. I wish the incoming secretary, Paul Duggan, the best of luck in his new office and I’ll be available at any time to lend a helping hand.

Margaret Cunningham

( Rúnai )