Week ending Saturday 25th Jan

New Committee elected at AGM to run Club affairs in 2020

Attendance for the Club’s Annual General Meeting last Friday evening in the Annebrook House Hotel was well up on previous years, which is great to see and shows increased interest among adult members and the parents of underage members on how the Club is managed and organised on their behalf. It gave everyone present an opportunity to be reminded of the many successes enjoyed by the Club over the last year on the road, at indoor and outdoor track and field and in cross country thanks to the performances of members from the very youngest juveniles up to our most senior master athletes.

There were many highlights during 2019, really too many to list them all but seeing four Mullingar athletes competing for Ireland at the European Cross Country in Lisbon has to take pride of place. Jamie Battle, Jack O’Leary, Cormac Dalton and Claire Fagan competed with distinction, and for Claire Fagan it was particularly memorable as she was part of the Irish team that took silver medals in the u/23 race. Another notable highlight was Oisin Lane placing fourteenth in the Junior European Cup of Race Walking in Lithuania, which is a Major event and is the race walking equivalent of the European Cross Country. His time of 45 minutes 17 seconds was a new personal best and is inside the qualifying standard for the World Cup of Race Walking in Minsk in 2020.

In all, 17 Mullingar athletes competed on Irish teams in 2019. We know Jack O’Leary competed at the European XC. Cormac Dalton also represented Ireland at the Celtic International XC at the beginning of 2019, Claire Fagan represented Ireland at the European u/23 T&F, Jamie Battle at the European Junior T&F, and Oisin Lane at the EYOF and at the Youth Nations Cup. There was an International debut for Diarmuid Fagan (Schools International XC), Eoin Quinn (Youth Nations Cup), Charles Okafor (EYOF) and Gerard Gavin (British & Irish Masters XC). The others were Sean McMullin (World Masters Indoors and European Masters T&F), Eileen Kenny (World Masters Indoors, European Masters T&F and British & Irish Masters XC), Sarah Glennon (CSIT Games), Awa Fane (IFAM), Vicky Harris (European Games), Matthew Glennon (Schools International T&F and Youth Nations Cup), Brigid McCabe and Aine O’Reilly (British & Irish Masters XC).

Chairperson, Margaret Daly opened the meeting by welcoming everyone and introduced the Secretary’s report by Colm Walsh, the Treasurer’s report by Joanna Tyrrell and Competition Report by Greg Duggan. These were followed by Margaret’s own Chairperson’s Address and finally the President’s Address by Sean McMullin. Club membership remains very strong and the Club’s finances are in a healthy state. Some important issues and motions were discussed and debated, including the major track development works planned at the Club grounds, a change to the Club’s Constitution, and the increasing pressure on the coaches due to increased membership and an appeal was made for more parents to step forward and assist the existing coaches, even if only occasionally. An extra pair of hands and eyes is really all that is asked for and no coaching experience is required, as they’ll be working alongside experienced coaches, though any that wish to gain a coaching qualification will be gladly assisted.

The following were elected as officers and committee members for the coming year:

Sean McMullin (President), Breda McDonnell (Vice-President), Margaret Daly (Chairperson), Greg Duggan (Vice-Chairperson, and will take on the roles of PRO coordinator, Registrar and Competition entries), Joanna Tyrrell (Treasurer), Colm Walsh (Secretary), James Cribbin (Assistant Secretary), Tom McGrath (Minutes Secretary), Pauline Quinn, Margaret Daly and Greg Duggan (Child Officers), Cormac Finnerty, Pat Muldoon Senior, Vera McCool and John Shaw (Trustees). The officers and trustees are automatically on the new committee, as are Life Vice-presidents Seamus Gibney, Cormac Finnerty, Martin Fagan, Bobbie Begley, John Mulvihill, George Bell and Christy Creagh, and will be joined by Mark Bate, Philip Burke, Declan Costello, Amanda Dalton, Catriona Duffy, Joan Flynn, Gerard Gavin, Sean Liston, Joe Ryan and Tom Wallace who were elected to the committee. Excluding trustees and Life-Vice presidents who are automatically on the Committee, the more or less fifty-fifty gender balance in the Club membership in general is well reflected in the elected Committee and Officers.

Concluding the meeting, Margaret Daly thanked all present for their attendance and input and closed a successful AGM.

Paddy Boyhan – clarification

Last week we reported that at the recent Leinster Masters Cross Country in Gowran, Pat (Paddy) Boyhan was first in his age category, which is a great result, but we said that it was his debut in cross country racing for Mullingar. This is incorrect, as Paddy ran for many years with Mullingar and was a noted cross country runner as a senior athlete, winning several Westmeath senior titles and a Leinster Intermediate title too. What we meant was that it was his debut as a master athlete, after many years away from the sport. Apologies to Paddy and we are delighted to make this clarification.

Westmeath Juvenile Indoors

As expected, there is great interest in the Westmeath Indoors in AIT this coming Friday evening and the Club has entered over 60 youngsters. They are all very eager to compete indoors, especially those too young for the Leinster indoors, and for many this will be their first opportunity to compete in indoor competition. We’re asking all our youngsters to please wear a Club vest or at least something maroon and white, so you can be spotted! It would be great to get a photograph of the Mullingar team, so please try to get to AIT before 6pm and we’ll get a group photo before the first events start.

Membership for 2020

Please renew your membership as soon as you can. If you are not registered, you are not insured and cannot train at the Club or take part in Club competition. This is especially important for anyone wishing to compete in the Leinster Indoors in the coming weeks; all entries are online and entry is only available to AAI registered athletes. You can pay membership online through the Club’s website or any night at training. As always, you can pay membership in instalments if it suits you better.

For the latest results, news and details of all upcoming fixtures check the Club’s website at www.mullingarharriers.com.

PRO