End of Season Club News

Catch up with some of the end of season reports and news from around the province

New Faces to lead Shannon RFC

A reconvened AGM of Shannon RFC completed the election of officers and other personnel to their executive committee after the initial nominations were suspended in order to facilitate a procedural error in the process. To comply with club rules a fourteen day period prior to the AGM was required to ensure the nominations were deemed applicable and thus the reconvention took place last week.
On the back of a successful season the body of the meeting was reminded of the clubs annexing of the AIB Cup for the first time, the reclaiming of the Munster senior cup and second place position in the AIB league which by any standards can be deemed a hugely successful season. Allied to their seconds winning the Transfield cup, the thirds winning the O’Carroll plate and their underage sides winning numerous trophies it was another year of triumph for the parish side.

Outgoing President Tommy Rowan highlighted this fact in his final role as club president when he handed over the reins to Liam Costello, a man whose association with Shannon began when he was 10 years old and encompasses his entire family.

The honour of becoming Shannon’s 76th president is one which is richly deserved by Liam whose involvement with Shannon has been ongoing as a player, coach and team manager for almost 40 years. In his emotional acceptance speech Liam highlighted his family’s role in the club over the years and made special mention of his late father Joe, who like Liam was a stalwart of Shannon RFC. Dedicating his year in office to his father, Liam’s wish during his year in office is further success to Shannon both on and off the field. There’s no doubt that Liam will bring decorum and pride to his role and an ethic of hard work.

Another major change in Shannon’s executive line up sees Jack Keane take up the onerous task of Club Chairman after five years under the stewardship of Pat O’Connor. Whilst stepping aside as Chairman, Pat O’Connor’s depth of knowledge and experience will not go untapped and he will remain a valuable member of Shannon’s Committee as incoming Junior Vice President. In his five year tenure, Pat’s guidance of Shannon was exceptional and his affable approach to the continuing problems faced, not only by Shannon, but the entire club rugby community ensured Shannon maintained their status in the upper echelons of Irish Rugby.

As a long serving member of Shannon’s executive committee Jack Keane brings a wealth of experience and his business acumen will ensure that Shannon RFC will continue to lead the way both on and off the field.
His progression to Chairman is probably the model of how committee structures work in the club.
A Native of Co. Leitrim, Limerick has been his place of work for a considerable time and his involvement with Shannon began 20 years ago when his sons began playing with the club.
He progressed through the ranks and became Chairman of Underage and has held the role of Executive Officer prior to his accession to Club Chairman. His primary duties for the last number of years have been the development of the Clubs successful corporate functions and other much needed methods of fundraising, a task for which the club are much the better for.
Jacks previous role as executive officer were taken over by another long standing committee member Pat Downey.

Treasurer Neil O’Carroll reported on the clubs finances and explained to the members about the ongoing developments in Coonagh and Thomond Park. As usual the Treasurers report was comprehensive and left the members in no doubt regarding the continuing difficulties clubs in general have in maintaining financial stability. Shannon RFC, however are very fortunate to have such a committed and dedicated man in Neil O’Carroll to oversee probably the most difficult job on the club.

There’s no doubt that there are difficult times ahead, but Shannon couldn’t be in more capable hands.
Congratulations were also offered to Club members, Gerry O’Loughlin and Tony Wallace both of whom served in their highest respective offices in the Munster Branch. Tony was President of the Munster Association of Referees while Gerry served as president of the Munster Branch in another historic year for Team Munster. Once again a strong Shannon contingent played their part in that wonderful Heineken Cup victory and again congratulations were offered to all those involved as well as Trevor Hogan who won the Magners League with Leinster.

The Full election of Officers was as follows; President; Liam Costello. Vice President; Martin Clancy. Junior Vice President; Pat O’Connor. Chairman; Jack Keane. Hon Secretary; Tadgh Crowe. Hon. Asst. Secretary; Ger Mc Closkey. Treasurer; Neil O’Carroll. Asst. Treasurer; Tim O’Donoughe. Executive Officer; Pat Downey. PRO; Andrew Mc Namara. Fixtures Secretary; Gerry Ryan.

KILLORGLIN RFC

The first event of the 2008/09 season has begun. Tag Rugby takes place every Tuesday evening at 7:30 at the Dragon’s Den All Weather Pitch at The Intermediate School. It is open to both men and women and all are welcome.

OLD CRESCENT RFC
Pat Rickard PRO

The club AGM was held recently at the clubhouse in Rosbrien. The following people were elected as officers for the 2008/9 season.

President: Glen Quin

Senior Vice President : Niall Sheehy

Hon Secretary: Dale Harrow

Hon Treasurer: Eddie Duffy

Registrar/ Assistant Secretary: Pat Rickard

Hon Fixtures Secretary: Pat Reddan

Munster Branch Rep: Brian Nolan

Media Officer : Frank Larkin

Club Captain : Phil Glamazina

Management Committee Members:
Joe Nix
Anthony O’Dwyer
Jim Keane
Billy Leahy
Michael Cunningham
Paddy Geraghty
Turlough O’Brien

The latest Car Draw took place before the meeting and the winner of the car was Vincent Ireton.

Clonmel RFC

Rock of Cashel visits Club
Due to the good offices of John Kennedy, M.D., Toyota, Clonmel, we had the privilege of chatting with Munster and Ireland star, Denis Leamy, when he visited the club for a Q & A session on Saturday 17th May. Some of us were still recovering from the excesses of our Annual Captains’ Dinner the previous evening but we still had a very enjoyable time with Denis. Only a week before his critical Heineken Cup final date with Tououse, this thorough gentleman from Cashel handled an array of questions from the floor

Clonmel’s New Internationals
Congratulations to our new Irish internationals, Niamh Briggs and Kate O’Loughlin, who added to their caps when they represented Ireland at the European Championships held in Holland recently. Both of them got among the tries against France, Niamh scoring two and Kate claiming one. Ireland finished third in the competition. Congrats, Ladies!

Tag Rugby
We’re ready to go again with the biggest and most enjoyable social event in these parts! The Tag Rugby Festival kicks off on Thursday 5th June and runs for six Thursdays. We again have 56 teams going to the start line but this year sees a change in format, with 16 teams going into an "A Group" and the other 40 teams going into a more socially-oriented "B Group". As ever, apart from the rugby, we have barbecues and discos lined up every night and we will also have live music, including a "rock" band and a Joe Dolan tribute night. Don’t miss the craic. Reminder – the tournament this year is strictly over-18

100 Club Draw
Our 100 Club was such a success that it was actually over-subscribed and we ended up with 116 members. This was explained to the attendance at the 100 Club draw for international tickets before the draw actually took place. Denis Leamy drew the winning ball and the lucky winner of two home 6 Nations tickets for the next five seasons is Mick McCarthy, whose son Paul plays on our 1st XV. Well done, Mick.

Golf Classic
Our bi-annual Golf Classic takes place at Clonmel GC on Friday 4th July. Paul Garrett, Paddy Fitzgerald and Joe Flynn are the main men here and we hope we will get all our usual teams from all over the country to support us again. It’s rumoured that some of the Munster players might appear. Hope to see you all on 4th July. Team entry is €200. A hole can be sponsored for €100 while a team / hole can be had for €250

Well Done Munster
They’ve done it again. What a team. They deserve our heartiest congratulations. Good Luck also to Declan Kidney who now moves onto the Irish stage while we say goodbye to Jim Williams who returns to Australia.

Profile- Ian Cooke
Ian Cooke took over the onerous task of Club Chairman a couple of years ago and has handled the job, in a very busy time, in a masterly fashion. Being Chairman means keeping lots of balls in the air, being aware of political situations, keeping the show on the road, listening to all views and ensuring that decisions are made in a timely manner. Ian has mastered the job to the point where he will have a job in vacating the seat! He has also come to realise that the job can be all-consuming if it’s not kept in perspective, so we allow him home to his family and to his day job now and again! Well done, Ian.

Club Lotto
Our club Lotto draw is running for many years now and is proving resilient in still being a major fundraiser for us. Draws take place every two weeks on a Friday night. Please support our draws by buying a (€2) ticket. You can also buy an annual ticket – contact Paul Garrett.
No winner of last weeks Lotto Jackpot. Winning numbers were 14, 16, 17, 22. Jackpot now €2400 in Clonmel RFC-AGM on Friday 2nd May.

BANDON RFC AGM

The Annual General Meeting of Bandon Rugby Club was held in the Clubhouse in Oldchapel at 9pm on Wednesday 28th May.
The meeting saw the very popular outgoing president John "Doc" O’Driscoll thank Robert Quin for honoring him with the presidency for the 125th celebrations and during his report he thanked the hardworking committee and paid tribute to the endeavors of all concerned at all levels Juvenile & Adult in driving the club forward over the last 12 months. He outlined the hard work to all the members present that goes in to the efficient running of the club and concluded by nominating Robert Quin as this years President which was seconded and unopposed.
The various reports from the Captains, House Bar Grounds & Social officer were presented along with Juvenile & Rugby Officers and all in all reported on a successful year with plenty of improvements both on and off the field to be complimented.
The new committee was then elected and are as follows;

President: Robert Quin
Vice-President: Tom Hickey
Chairman: Dermot O’Leary
Hon. Sec: Gerard O’Flynn
Asst. Sec. & Registrar: Willie Driscoll
Treasurer: Conor Nyhan
Asst. Treasurer: Damien Healy
Fixtures Sec: Dick Walsh
Club Captain: Colm Hurley
Vice Captain: Colin O’Mahoney
J2 Captain: TBC
J3 Captain: Ralph Holmes
House Officer: John O’Driscoll
Bar Officer: Patrick O’Shea
Social Officer: Shay Graham
Grounds Officer: Liam Ryan
PRO: Shay Graham
Match Day Official: Michael Corcoran
Youth Officers: Gary McCormick & Tom Davis
Chairman Rugby Committee: Reggie Roycroft
Hon Medical officer: Mary Roycroft
Auditor: Andrew O’Donnell
Coach: Ricky O’Sullivan
Committee Member: Niall O’Driscoll
Committee Member: Mick Calnan
Committee Member: James Neville
Committee Member: Peter Apelbe
Committee Member: John Nyhan
Ex-Officio: John "Doc" O’Driscoll

All news details and events can be found on our website @ http://www.bandonrfc.com/ along with applications for new membership and standing order forms.
Our Function room and facilities are also available for corporate bookings BBQ’s Teambuilding and many other uses in conjunction with rebel corporate http://www.rebelcorporate.com/ and of course our new all weather pitch can be booked by contacting Tom Davis on 086 1250989.

Shay Graham
PRO & Social Officer 08/09