June 08th 2009

Ray Duffy, who has a lifetime of involvement in rugby through playing, refereeing and administrating, was elected unopposed as President of Buccaneers R.F.C. for the coming season at last week’s well-attended Annual General Meeting of the club held in its premises at The Bounty.

Overall, the A.G.M. reflected on a difficult season on and off the pitch. Outgoing President Joe Cleary was thankful for all the support he received during his term of office, particularly from his Executive Committee and especially from our Administrator Geraldine Kenny, who was mentioned very positively by many of the meeting’s contributors. Joe was complimentary to the numerous members “for their participation in numerous areas” in a year when the club “strengthened bonds with local schools and the Athlone Institute of Technology”. Although team performances were uneven and inconsistent, no less than “eight players played for various Ireland teams” and “underage rugby the lifeblood of the club continues to be nurtured and developed”. Joe paid special thanks to his family especially wife Audrey for their support throughout his reign of office.

Brian Feeney, in his wide-ranging Secretary’s report, also remarked that it had been “a difficult season on and off the pitch”. Nevertheless, the club now “fielded 17 teams including for the first time Womens sides”. He thanked all the team mentors for their endeavours and noted the successful campaigns of the club’s U-20 and Thirds squads. Dubarry Park was again the host venue for Ireland’s U-20 Six Nations Championship home games and the club once more rose to the occasion in successfully staging these prestigious matches, now held in Athlone for the past five years. The club also smoothly staged the AIB Cup finals for the third successive season and was also honoured as venue for the Womens All-Ireland League finals. Brian thanked all for their hard work in hosting these matches and he duly thanked all members of various committees including the P.R.O. whom he highlighted had been honoured by the Connacht Branch IRFU for his voluntary efforts to the club over many years. The Ladies were also complimented, including Geraldine who he caught unawares when presenting her with a bouquet for her unstinting service!

Brian continued that the club had undertaken “major work on our pitches and in upgrading our facilities” which were a significant drain on financial resources. Despite the success of Discos, finances (or rather lack of) prove a difficult area, and members and mentors “must get behind fund-raising”. He appealed that “members support club events and our new tenants”. He gratefully noted the continued generous support of our title sponsors OYSTERhomes and grounds sponsors Dubarry.

In her Treasurer’s report, Sharon Murphy reported a loss of €26,729 on the year despite tightening our belt in relation to expenditure. Yet items such as heat and lighting and, especially, buses are a serious drain on funds. Income was considerably reduced, with all areas apart from Membership subscriptions, showing a downward trend reflecting “substantial cutbacks by corporate sponsors, etc”. She expressed concern that there may be “an over-reliance on the U-20 International fixtures”. The input of Eamon Fagan in attracting sponsorship and advertising was noted. Capital expenditure amounted to close on €200k. Sharon thanked the Executive and Geraldine for their support throughout the year and she in turn was duly thanked for her endeavours in what was “a difficult trading year”. She then dealt comfortably with questions on the accounts from the body of the meeting.

Outgoing Chairperson of Football Pat Hynes noted that the main highlight of the Senior team’s season was the retention of Division One status, albeit now in section B. The Seconds survived too in “a problematic season” while the Thirds lost just two matches, one in the Cup and the other in the League final. They had a splendid season in which “lots of new players were introduced to rugby”. The U-20 squad had “a fantastic season, qualifying for the last eight nationally and winning the Connacht U-20 Cup”. Paul Harte, Kevin Moran, Danny Riordan and Adam Kennedy were all capped by Ireland. Off the playing field, Pat stated that we “could do with greater numbers travelling to away matches and helping out staging the International fixtures”.

Ronan Bushell reported on the Youth and Mini sections and recalled “a good year all round” helped by “enthusiastic and committed coaches”. Although the U-18’s lost their Cup final, they nevertheless had “a unique achievement” in having four players (Callum Boland, Mark Dolan, Daniel Qualter and Jack Carty) play on the Ireland U-18 team. After controversially losing their League final, the U-16’s then enjoyed “a convincing Cup triumph”. The U-15’s finished second in the league and were runners-up in the Enda O’Rourke Cup while the U-14’s twice came close when losing the League final and going out of the Cup at the semi-final stage. The U-13’s were Plate runners-up in their League.
Ronan commented that U-12 down to U-8 was “a thriving hive of activity” with demand for more coaches and assistants. Buccaneers were now fielding Womens teams at U-16 and U-18 and he thanked Lorna Stuart-Trainor in particular for this positive situation. The club hosted a Womens interpro match when Connacht (primarily composed of fledgling Buccettes) tackled a hugely experienced Munster side.
The appointment of Eddie Walsh as Child Welfare Officer was a welcome step. Ronan concluded by cautioning that “fund raising must be addressed” as there seems to be “no concept of the cost of nurturing rugby”.

In his off-the-cuff acceptance speech, Ray Duffy thanked all who supported him in achieving this coveted position. It has been “a huge learning experience for him” to date and he acknowledged “the colossal amount of work going on in the club” but noted that “it is difficult to get enough volunteers especially for the Executive committee”. He can understand why people may be reluctant due to the workload and commitment entailed but “we are here because of rugby. The recession poses challenges that can be overcome. A terrific amount of talent is coming through and the club has huge potential, but more bodies are needed to help”. Ray is “proud of the club and it’s achievements” but “if we are to get to the next level, structures must adapt”. He continued “more enjoyment needs to be brought back into the club and everyone must feel part of the club”. Club ethos, respect and honour were crucial ingredients to the incoming President who wished to put on record and praise Eamonn Fagan for the amount of fund-raising endeavours and work he did for the club. He thanked him publicly for this. Ray concluded to a rousing round of applause for his passionate exhortations.

He mentioned the area of finance as “our only deficit” and this was echoed from the body of the meeting as ‘any other business’ was discussed. Fund-raising needs a fresh approach; old chestnuts like the annual draw were now stale; teams should take on responsibility for some fund-raising events; more members need to put their shoulder to the wheel; etc. This concluded the business of the A.G.M. and Ray and his fellow committee members and mentors are wished all the best for the undoubtedly challenging season ahead.

Buccaneers R.F.C. Executive Committee for 2009/2010:-

President: Raymond Duffy
Senior Vice-President: Patrick Cooney
Honorary Secretary: Brian Feeney
Honorary Treasurer: Sharon Murphy
Representative to the Connacht Branch IRFU: Michael Stapleton
Public Relations Officer: Michael Silke
Facilities Chairperson: Michael Cleary
Commercial and Marketing Chairperson: Joseph Cleary
Trustees Representative: Richard Quirke
Three positions remain to be filled.