AGM: Next Wednesday the 9th of December should be writ large in the diaries of the members of Éire Óg, it is the date of the agm which takes place in the Clubhouse at 8p.m. The agm is hugely important in the life of a club, there the officers give an account of their stewardship and those present are afforded an insight into the state of its health. In particular, attendees at next Wednesday's meeting will be furnished with the audited financial accounts which they may scrutinise for any tendency within the club to slide into an IFA-type situation! People at the meeting will also be given an outline of the club's 5-year plan - “if you don't have a dream how can you have a dream come true” - and this will be open to debate. Further, elections will take place for the posts of Cathaoirleach (Carmel Deeney has completed her statutory 3 years), and for Cisteoir (Odhrán Ó Súilleabháin is retiring because of logistical reasons, tá sé in a chonaí as baile).
Your presence at the meeting would be a token of your interest in the future of the club and also of your appreciation for the work being done by the Coiste. Beidh fáilte mór romhat ann.
Saturday night Uachtarán of Éire Óg, Ray Barry, celebrated a significant birthday and thereby crossed the age threshold already passed by fellow-uachtaráin Danny Hatton and Patsy Vickers. A large crowd of Ray's friends joined with him and his family to celebrate the occasion. Oliver Leonard who made Ray's acquaintance through his involvement with Éire Óg spoke of Ray's openness and welcoming attitude to the many runners-in who found their way into the club. He made reference to the number present from Éire Óg and to those who got to know Ray through his work and pointed to it as a testament to his friendly way with people.
Birthdays are bitter-sweet events and celebrations are often tinged with nostalgia. Ray betrayed a little of this in referring to his previous big birthday celebration in the Horse and Hound at which his late father, John, and his late uncle Tom Swann were in attendance.
Patsy Vickers led the slua in the singing of Happy Birthday to Ray.
It is an unfortunate fact that the passing years break into a gallop after this special birthday!!!
Beannacht Dé ar Ray and may he celebrate many more birthdays.
Fame is “like the bubble on the fountain, like the foam on the river” - it is soon gone and forever. So let the Cuddihy family enjoy the moment of fame which has been theirs as a result of their exposure in a recent Bray People and on the Éire Óg Facebook page.
A feature on Brendan, complete with an almost life sized portrait, occupied the front page of the Sports section of that Bray People while the last page in the paper was taken up by a photograph of Billy and his fiancée. Add to this the accolade of accolades received by the family in having a photograph published on the Éire Óg Facebook page – a photograph which incidentally exudes glamour. With all this attention it would be difficult not to have one's head turned!.
The sports page reports Brendan as defending strongly, against the post facto criticism by Michael Neary, the selection committee set up by the Coiste Chondae to choose a manager for the county's hurling team. Brendan himself was a member of this committee. Its choice was Martin Storey, an outstanding member of the Wexford All-Ireland winning team. Michael accused the committee of not having been even-handed in its interviewing procedure and also of lacking managerial experience and thus not having the ability to judge the competence of the various candidates. Brendan rebutted him on both counts – and pointed out that the second criticism could have been levelled at the committee who chose Brian Cody to manage the Kilkenny hurlers.
Billy's photograph and that of the family were taken at the Christy Ring All Stars presentation at which Billy received an award. Éire Óg is proud of Billy having being on this All Star team.
