Irish Chess Union AGM 2013

Sparks

From the ICU website:

Annual General Meeting

The AGM will be held on the 29th of September at 3pm in the Alexander hotel in Dublin. Motions and nominations to the executive must be sent to the secretary on or before September 6th for consideration at the AGM. Motions will be published on the ICU website on the 7th of September. The Irish Blitz Championships takes place before the AGM, with more details to follow. For directions to the Alexander hotel, please visit their website.

EnPassant

There should probably be a motion about the use of electronic devices to give some guidance to the ICU in the light of the Cork incident. If there was a standard penalty that could only be waived in the most exceptional circumstances then it would make life easier for any future ICU disciplinary committees (hopefully, none will be required). I don't think anything too draconian is required.


Should there be a motion about eligibility for the Irish Championship? The decision to limit entry to IRL-registered players seemed like a good idea to me at the time, but perhaps it is too restrictive. The country to which players are registered for FIDE seems to be pretty random - in many cases it seems to depend on the country in which players first played a FIDE-rated event.

The "old" rules allowed the following to play (as far as I am aware) :-
1) Irish citizens
2) anyone born in Ireland
3) anyone resident in Ireland for 3 years

I think that categories 1) and 2) should automatically be eligible to play in the Irish Championship. For example, IRLchess has a page about Gerry McCurdy http://www.irlchess.com/2013/06/11/gerry-mccurdy/ , a former participant in the Irish Championship who has now returned to playing chess in France. It seems wrong that he cannot play in the Irish Championship again.

I don't have a problem with 3) either - if someone has been playing in Irish tournaments and leagues for a few years, then why not let them play in the Irish Championship? There could be a condition that if a non-IRL-registered player won the title, that they had 6 months to register as IRL in order to claim the Olympiad place. I can think of at least 2 non-IRL registered potential winners - but then Wolfgang Heidenfeld won the tournment in 1958 after a few months in the country.

Perhaps non-IRL registered players should simply have to enter slightly earlier in case there is any query about their eligibility.

Sparks

EnPassant wrote: »

There should probably be a motion about the use of electronic devices to give some guidance to the ICU in the light of the Cork incident. If there was a standard penalty that could only be waived in the most exceptional circumstances then it would make life easier for any future ICU disciplinary committees (hopefully, none will be required). I don't think anything too draconian is required.

Looking at the procedures and structures in place in the ICU and in place in other sports, I think they might need quite a bit more work than that, to be honest. Every sports NGB and most of the clubs in the country have been anywhere from worried to terrified about having to take disciplinary hearings against minors because of the legal issues surrounding child protection (ever since the child abuse scandals in swimming) and defamation (ever since the state was founded - our defamation laws are horrible things for a number of reasons); that's why most of them have incorporated and why the larger ones have insurance to cover legal expenses. You'd have to do quite a lot of what they've done to cover the ICU fully in any future cases. Right now, if the family of the minor involved in the cork incident was to sue the ICU, because the ICU's not a company, they'd be suing the individual members of the committee directly even if the action that was the cause of the case was taken by only one person. And if you thought it was hard to find competent people to volunteer to do the work on the committee before now...

Should there be a motion about eligibility for the Irish Championship? The decision to limit entry to IRL-registered players seemed like a good idea to me at the time, but perhaps it is too restrictive. <lots of rules snipped>

Said it a while ago and I'll repeat it - the more you restrict entry, the more you reduce the value of winning.

Also, again repeating an earlier thought, offload more rules. Why should the ICU have rules that determine if you're Irish or not? Just have the rule be that you must be eligible to hold an Irish passport. That takes all the argument about who's Irish and who's not and offloads it onto the state, where the question belongs, instead of trying to reinvent the wheel. Avoids stepping on any toes in the North as well (which is why a lot of Olympic sports use it as a criteria).

brilliantboy

Sparks wrote: »

Said it a while ago and I'll repeat it - the more you restrict entry, the more you reduce the value of winning.

Also, again repeating an earlier thought, offload more rules. Why should the ICU have rules that determine if you're Irish or not? Just have the rule be that you must be eligible to hold an Irish passport. That takes all the argument about who's Irish and who's not and offloads it onto the state, where the question belongs, instead of trying to reinvent the wheel. Avoids stepping on any toes in the North as well (which is why a lot of Olympic sports use it as a criteria).

You have to restrict entry somewhat or there's no point in having an Irish Championship. Having an open Irish championship makes about as much sense as letting Baden-Baden play in the Leinster leagues. It surely would be a great thing for Irish chess to have those players play, but in a context that's appropriate and logical.

"eligible to hold an Irish passport" would still be a barrier to players who may be active and valuable members of the Irish chess community.
I wonder if a games-based approach could be considered for non-Irish players ie. if you've played X amount of ICU-rated games in the last Y years. That way you wouldn't exclude someone who doesn't meet some residence requirement but has supported every event up and down the country in whatever amount time they have been here.

Sparks

brilliantboy wrote: »

You have to restrict entry somewhat or there's no point in having an Irish Championship. Having an open Irish championship makes about as much sense as letting Baden-Baden play in the Leinster leagues. It surely would be a great thing for Irish chess to have those players play, but in a context that's appropriate and logical.

I think it makes perfect sense - lots of other sports do this for their championships as well. Everyone competes and the highest ranked person who is eligible to hold an Irish passport is named the Irish champion. Simples. You get good PR, a high standard of competition, and noone gets their nose out of joint because they could or could not enter. Plus, more entry fees. Everyone benefits. If there were three or four GMs coming to Ireland for the event, wouldn't that drive up the numbers entering here too, instead of (to use this year's example) either not going or going to another event seeking a GM norm?

"eligible to hold an Irish passport" would still be a barrier to players who may be active and valuable members of the Irish chess community.

True, if you let it be. For some things, yes, you have to have nationalistic restrictions, but those tend to be imposed from external concerns - it would cause problems at the FIDE level if you didn't have your entire olympiad team registered with FIDE as Irish, for example.

But you shouldn't bring those in until they're actually needed. So if you aren't eligible to hold an Irish passport, you can play in the Irish Championships, but you'll only be able to win the overall first place, not the Irish champion title.

brilliantboy

Sparks wrote: »

I think it makes perfect sense - lots of other sports do this for their championships as well. Everyone competes and the highest ranked person who is eligible to hold an Irish passport is named the Irish champion. Simples. You get good PR, a high standard of competition, and noone gets their nose out of joint because they could or could not enter. Plus, more entry fees. Everyone benefits. If there were three or four GMs coming to Ireland for the event, wouldn't that drive up the numbers entering here too, instead of (to use this year's example) either not going or going to another event seeking a GM norm?

PR would still be non-existent unless you managed to tempt some real heavy-hitters to play. I think the best that could be hoped for from an open championship would be a field similar to Bunratty, but even then I'm not sure. A big factor in Bunratty and Kilkenny being able to attract strong players is they can be secure in the knowledge that their fide rating won't take a hit after the weekend's festivities.

As for it boosting the participation of our own players, no doubt it would have some effect, but our top players are well past the point of being starstruck by any old GM, so I would think that any increase in numbers would be from players in the middle rating ranges looking for a scalp.

No doubt a strong open tournament with participation from foreign GMs would be great for Irish chess, but why do we need to replace the Irish Championships?
You go from "I won this chess tournament ahead of my peers therefore I am the Irish Champion" to
"I came 5th place in this pretty cool chess tournament. Nevertheless, I am the Irish Champion because I didn't play as terribly as the other Irish players"

Sparks

"any old GM"

I think the day any Irish player (with two exceptions) can say that without everyone in the room mentally snickering at them might possibly be a bit far off yet

"I won this chess tournament ahead of my peers therefore I am the Irish Champion" to
"I came 5th place in this pretty cool chess tournament. Nevertheless, I am the Irish Champion because I didn't play as terribly as the other Irish players"

A dose of cold reality is kindof needed here. The actual data says that while 20 players showed up, 11 did not compete at all despite having ICU ratings higher than the highest rated competitor (the list falls to 10 if you go by FIDE rating).

Honestly, if you are worried about the public image if Irish Champion was the best rated Irish player despite finishing in last place overall because the field was so strong (which is the historical reason cited for restricting entry); but you're not worried about the fact that the field of twenty players were all rated below ten or eleven other, stronger players who just weren't interested in the championships... then I think you might be missing something, because where we are now is really more the latter half of your comparison, not the first half, in terms of public image. If anything, we're worse off than the latter half of your comparison, because "nobody cares" comes in below "we can't beat professional players from countries that heavily support them" in PR terms.

Until the championships sees the top ten rated Irish players all taking part, then "Irish Champion" is really going to be a worthless title that really means "I'm the best of all the rest"...

reunion

I think the point is that the Irish Champion should be the winner from a field of players.

Regarding AGM motions, what I'd like to see;

1. The Irish Championships is changed to invite only (Everyone over 1800 ICU or 1800 FIDE (and registered with FIDE as IRL) automatically receives an invite); the provincial unions recieve 3 each, the ICU executive can nominate 3 people, winners of sections around the country receive one (over 1600 sections or open tournaments) and our top juniors receive one. Players nominated by the ICU or the provincial unions would not be required to meet any entry requirements to the Irish Championships (such as IRL with FIDE). This would eliminate a rating requirement.
2. If an executive member misses 2 committee meetings in a row without apologies, they are deemed resigned.
3. Introduction of a temporary membership fee - The idea is to allow someone who plays the leagues only or one tournament a year, can pay €10 to have that 1 tournament rated. Officially, they won't be members of the union and will have no voting rights, however, the tournament will be rated. (i.e. every non ICU member at an ICU rated event pays a surcharge of €10)
4. The executive minutes are published at most 1 year after an executive meeting. Transparency is quite lacking in my opinion in the ICU and seeing executive minutes isn't exactly the worst thing in the world

Personally item 1 would allow the ICU to get 3 IM's or GM's over to make it a norm tournament (if by some miracle the ICU gets $$$$$ in sponsorship) and is hopefully a nice middle ground for everyone involved (keeping it closed/open). The Irish Champion will always be a strong player, but I see no reason why we can't increase participation and improve the strength of our own players. This would allow the ICU/provincial unions to allow a resident of 10 years who isn't registered with FIDE as IRL to play (a happy medium in my opinion).

Sparks

From the ICU website:

AGM motion and nomination deadline

Just a reminder about the AGM. It will be held on the 29th of September at 3pm in the Alexander hotel in Dublin. Motions and nominations to the executive must be sent to the secretary on or before September 6th for consideration at the AGM. Motions will be published on the ICU website on the 7th of September. The Irish Blitz Championships takes place before the AGM, with more details to follow.

reunion

Some proposed AGM motions found on an Irish Chess [URL="[url]http://www.irishchesscogitations.com/blog/icu-annual-general-meeting-possible-motions/[/url]"]blog[/URL].

http://www.irishchesscogitations.com/blog/icu-annual-general-meeting-possible-motions/ wrote:

1. The ICU executive committee should have physical meetings no less than four times a year in Dublin, with a meeting having to be convened at least once within every three months, with. 50 percent attendance being mandatory for any committee member residing on the island of Ireland. A quorum for such meetings being based on the members physically present.

2. All ICU executive committee members residing outside of the county of Dublin should be able to claim travel expenses for petrol or public transport. Conditional on a receipt being provided to the treasurer, while any executive committee members not residing on the island of island be allowed to claim the same amount of travel expenses as the highest amount paid to any of other ICU executive committee members

3. All email correspondence relating to any ICU business between future ICU executive members which involve more than two people, should be copied and put on a file or folder with files [pdf or word docs.] that is available to ICU members through the ICU website two weeks before each AGM.

4. The player found to have cheated using an electronic device at the 2013 Cork Congress, and who has admitted this should be subject to a 12 month ban backdated from the last day of April 2013.

1) Face to face meetings are a good idea in theory. However recovering expenses (already allowed?) would eat up a significant portion of the ICU budget. Dates and locations need to be decided in advance for committee meetings (>3 months) and not up to debate to reduce this quick need for a committee meeting. Additionally 10.3 of the constitution says that the executive decide how these meetings work and are regulated.

3) It is impossible to eradicate stupid correspondance. To improve transparency (if that's the goal); the minutes of committee meetings should be published.

4) That is crazy? An AGM imposing a sanction on a player? AGM motions can't (well shouldn't) target individual people or players. This motion would be illegal/void under the constitution section 10.1 (invalidation a prior act by the ICU executive).

Sparks

(1) is a bit onerous in terms of location - there should definitely be regular meetings for NGBs, but the face-to-face requirement isn't so useful anymore, and meetings by video conference (or just by plain ordinary phone conference) have the side bonus of creating a transcript of the meeting which makes the secretary's life easier when drafting motions. (Incidentally, recording committee meetings has proven useful for other NGBs in the past to tackle accusations - unfounded and otherwise - of less than perfect behaviour from the committee. Just sayin'...)

(2) is a surprisingly quiet minefield - I've personally seen improperly handled petrol expense claims cause massive problems for an NGB (granted, one in receipt of ISC funding, but the potential would seem higher when it's out of private funding). It's remarkable how fast people get irate about honest accounting mistakes when it's membership dues that fund things!

(3) is really confusing - all email correspondance with future members of the committee that involves more than two people? So... you need to know the future to know if you save or delete the email? But if you send the email to just one person, you're exempt (an Irish solution right there...). And worst of all, publishing emails from the committee to the rest of the world on the internet -- in three seconds I can think of five ways that could go horribly, horribly wrong.

And (4) is just... stupid.

reunion

I think (3) is meant that the next incoming committee must publish every email with more than 1 recipient. Meaning emails which should be sent to the chairman and cc'ed to the secretary are now published. Or any email to the entire committee, or someone asking about a tournament (emailing the secretary, provincial delegate and tournament director).

The value of publishing a flood of information makes it easier to hide information that really matters. Take the ICU site currently; the AGM notice was pushed to the bottom from other news items; now throw in random emails and you get a website no one will ever read.

littletoe7

@ sparky & reunion , why you guys discussing irishcogitation contents here ? why not simply go to the website and post what you have said here over there and see what happens ? .

reunion

littletoe7 wrote: »

@ sparky & reunion , why you guys discussing irishcogitation contents here ? why not simply go to the website and post what you have said here over there and see what happens ? .

Well 1. It's posted to be talked about; there is no harm in discussing it elsewhere

2. The site is obscure so not everyone will see it

3. The comments end up being hate filled and driven. They attack posters and not points raised in comments (the particular go to is "your rating is low" or "your name isn't published" followed by "therefore I'm right and your points are invalid"). Not friendly or in anyway helpful to any discussion.

4. There is 1 moderator (also the poster) who won't be able to moderate efficiently or independently.

Ciaran

littletoe7 wrote: »

@ sparky & reunion , why you guys discussing irishcogitation contents here ? why not simply go to the website and post what you have said here over there and see what happens ? .

You can get a 10,000 word reply from the proprietor telling you that, since your rating is under 2000, your opinion is wrong followed by half the cast of The Muppet Show posting pointless drivel.

reunion

Ciaran wrote: »

You can get a 10,000 word reply from the proprietor telling you that, since your rating is under 2000, your opinion is wrong followed by half the cast of The Muppet Show posting pointless drivel.

Before this thread turns into pointless drivel; we should get back to a discussion about the AGM and potential motions and nominees rather than a discussion about a comments section of a website.

What did people think of the suggested motions put forward so far in this thread?

September 6th is the last day for nominations and motions with them being published on the 7th

Sparks

reunion wrote: »

I think (3) is meant that the next incoming committee must publish every email with more than 1 recipient. Meaning emails which should be sent to the chairman and cc'ed to the secretary are now published. Or any email to the entire committee, or someone asking about a tournament (emailing the secretary, provincial delegate and tournament director).

Okay, silly question time - has nobody heard of email lists? Use one of them and you get a searchable archive visible to the entire committee. Better solution than what's proposed...
(and that's assuming it's not being proposed to publish all committee emails to the general public, which would be a tad daft...)

Sparks

Is anyone planning on proposing that the ICU incorporate, I wonder? (If not, someone ought to...)

checknraise

I dont see the point in number 3 surely it has to be easy enough to achieve emails and the people on the ICU exec are responsible enough not to delete and forward any important emails to their successor but I suppose you never know......

Sparks

From the ICU website:

Motions and nominations for the AGM 2013
Motions and nominations for the AGM on September 29th 2013 are available online on google drive.

Motions and nominations are also available for download here.

All motions need to be seconded at the general meeting before they can be discussed (article 7.7 of the ICU constitution).
Constitutional changes require a two-thirds majority of members present at the AGM (article 17 of the ICU constitution).

All nominations need to be seconded at the general meeting before they can stand for election; additionally they require to inform the secretary via email (secretary@icu.ie) of their acceptance of the nomination by the 20th of September 2013 (article 9.1 of the ICU constitution).

The motions and nominations are attached.

Sparks

Thirty motions in all, that'll be a fun meeting ...

1. Anyone found to have cheated in a chess event in Ireland or representing Ireland, is to be suspended from playing chess in Ireland for a minimum period of 5 years for an adult and 1 year for a minor - proposed by Martin Crichton

15. That any proven cases of cheating against a member be sanctioned with a minimum of a two year ban (one year in case of a junior) except if the committee without dissent votes for a lesser ban. - proposed by Shane Lee

27. Any player caught cheating be expelled from the ICU and banned from all Irish Chess competition for two years. - proposed by Gabriel Mirza

The first is a nice sentiment, but not a valid rule. I cheat in a chess game with my six-year-old nephew for a joke and someone will make sure I never play chess again, ever? Yeah, I know what he meant. Thing is, rules are rather strict about being about what they say because otherwise you spend all your time arguing about what people think other people meant by things. Not to mention that it's a bit vague on how the ban will be enforced - how will the ICU handle it if a club ignores the sanction?

The second isn't even a rule - it says you have to give a two year ban unless you don't want to.

The third is a lot better, but you're still solving the wrong problem by focussing on what the punishment should be and ignoring any potential problems with being able to decide to give that punishment out.

2. Amendment to the Code of conduct; see https://docs.google.com/file/d/0BwjlJ5xXCEshakhBTlFISmZ6eVE/edit?usp=sharing - proposed by Pete Morris

You can't have a rule that says someone in front of a disciplinary hearing isn't allowed have legal representation. You'd land in front of a very unimpressed judge the minute anyone had a problem. There are better ways to handle contentious cases than trying something that'd get your actions ruled illegal in a court.

The rest of that isn't half bad, but in the event of a contentious decision, wouldn't hold up (it says, for example that you can appeal a decision you disagree with, but doesn't specify clearly how you'd do that). A better approach would be to include JSI in the chain here, but you'd wind up with a six-page motion at least. Better to simply have it as a motion that the ICU fix its procedures to bring them in line with best practice.

3. Creation of a webmaster role (non-executive (non-voting) role) - proposed by Mark Orr

Not a bad idea, it's a rather technical sort of job. Lots of NGBs farm it out to nonexec posts like that.

4. The membership has no confidence in the Chairperson or Secretary of the Irish Chess Union - proposed by Alan Salsac

5. This meeting expresses it's lack of confidence in the chairman due to his inept and one sided handling of the Cork incident. - proposed by Gabriel Mirza

25. The ICU meeting expresses it's lack of confidence in the current chairman due to his inept and one sided handling of the Cork incident - proposed by Gabriel Mirza

All of which turn the AGM into a who-can-bring-the-most-friends-to-a-shouting-match event, given that nobody who'd be voting knows the facts for facts (your best mate having heard from someone who went to school with someone might be compelling, but it's not really a fact as such) and that nobody who'd be voting is supposed to know, these things are meant to be confidential. So it comes down to who you trust more and that's not a way to run a meeting, it's a way to start a fight. Which really isn't what's needed as an epilogue to the Toiletgate incident for Irish Chess, is it?

6. First on the Agenda for the new ICU executive : to tell all the members from October what we can get from ICU (example : what it will be paid - like entry fees at EYCC,WYCC,EUYCC for what you/selections committee did not know about this season !) - proposed by Gabriel Mirza

26. ICU informs members in October what tournaments abroad will be supported and what level of support will be provided (at least for juniors) - proposed by Gabriel Mirza

Good practice that, so long as the budget is known at that time.

7. The Irish Championships is changed to a strictly over 1800 ICU rated or 1800 FIDE rated tournament (and registered with FIDE as IRL) event. Players may also be invited to the event by the following:

6 under-18 players may be invited by the Junior Officer
3 players may be invited by the ICU executive
3 players may be invited by the Women’s officer
The current Irish Women’s Champion
The current Irish Veteran’s Champion
The current Irish Intermediate Champion
The current Irish Open Champion
3 players may be invited by each individual delegate on the Executive (Munster, Connaught, Ulster, Leinster, FIDE and IUCA)

8. Invited players are not required to be registered as IRL with FIDE or have a rating above 1800. Invited players may be required to pay an entry fee and ICU membership - proposed by Kevin O’Flaherty

Me, I disagree but it's not loopy.
Nice to see stuff get discussed on here and then end up as motions in an AGM though

9. Constitution change - addition of “9.8 If an executive member misses 2 committee meetings during their term without apologies, they are deemed resigned” - proposed by Kevin O’Flaherty

It's kindof rude not to apologise if you miss a meeting, it's hardly asking a lot for people to give their apologies if they can't make it (which is why it's standard practice everywhere else).

10. Constitution change - “5.1 Membership of the union shall be open to all persons who agree to be bound by the provisions of this constitution and who comply with its bye laws.” changed to “5.1 Every person shall be eligible for membership of the union and are bound by the provisions of this constitution and compliance with it’s bye-laws” - proposed by Kevin O’Flaherty

That's actually a fairly necessary thing (or you can't kick out people who break the rules) but I think the wording isn't as tight as it could be.

11. Introduction of a temporary membership fee - The fee to be determined by the incoming executive. A temporary member will have no voting rights but is permitted to have 1 tournament rated - proposed by Kevin O’Flaherty

Perhaps when all the hoohah at the moment is settled this could be revisited to allow for a rolling membership subscription (ie from the day you pay up to the day one year later) or some other measure to catch people who want to join at the end of a season.

12. The executive minutes are published at most 1 year after the date of the executive meeting. The executive may redact sensitive information from the published minutes. - proposed by Kevin O’Flaherty

Good practice that. Important to remember, for those who think it'd have a chilling effect on the committee are the two points that (a) transcripts aren't minutes and vice versa; and (b) if you wouldn't stand over it in public, you shouldn't be saying it in a committee meeting...

13. In Article 13 replace the line: “Copies of the accounts shall be available for inspection by fully paid up members of the Union at the Annual General Meeting and also on written request from any fully paid up member (including any body referred to in rule 4.1)” with “Copies of the accounts shall be available for download on the ICU website at least 48 hours before the Annual General Meeting.” - proposed by Shane Lee

So the accounts will only be available for 48 hours each year instead of all year round as they are now? Why would you need to cover up the accounts like that?

14. That the Vice Chairperson be tasked with finding an acceptable and interested candidate to act as President of the ICU for the season following the current season. (If this motion is passed that this be written into the job role of the ICU Vicechairperson) - proposed by Shane Lee

Do you need replacement presidents that often? If you're not getting ten years out of a president, you're electing the wrong figurehead lads, and the job's so rare, the executive committee usually does it instead of one officer.

16. Create new line in constitution, article 10.8 “The ICU executive should have a minimum of four face to face meetings a year with a maximum of four months between any two meetings. Interim meetings by Skype (or any other acceptable teleconferencing method freely available) are acceptable.” - proposed by Shane Lee

17. That the following line in the constitution be changed from: “10.4 No business shall be transacted at any meeting of the Executive Committee unless five members of the Committee are present at the time when the meeting proceeds to business.” to: “10.4 No business shall be transacted at any meeting of the Executive Committee unless five members of the Committee are present, either in person or by other communication method, at the time when the meeting proceeds to business.” - proposed by Shane Lee

21. The ICU executive committee shall have physical meetings no less than four times a year,  with a meetings having to be convened at least once within every three months, with 50 percent attendance being mandatory for any committee member residing on the island of Ireland. A quorum for such meetings being based on the members physically present. - proposed by Colm Daly

Seems reasonable enough, though simple phone conferencing should be sufficient, you don't always need video to do business.

19. Create new line in constitution, article 9.7 – To be effective from the end of the upcoming season, ie after the election of the Chair at the current meeting “The position of Chairperson of the Union shall not be held by any one individual for more than three consecutive years” - proposed by Shane Lee

23. The Position of ICU Chairman shall not be occupied by the same person more than two terms consecutively, effective from now. - proposed by Colm Daly

24. The Position of ICU Chairman shall not be occupied by the same person more than three terms consecutively, effective from now. - proposed by Colm Daly

Term limits are a great idea when you have a pool of talented competent people with a strong ethical drive to help out and do the right thing.
The rest of the time, they tend to be a bit less effective. And Irish sport tends to have a massive problem with never being able to find enough volunteers, so you've got a downside there. On the upside, lifetime appointees can be equally problematic...

20. “That organizers of ICU rated tournaments be called upon to give a 50% entry discount to members of the Union executive in recognition of their good service to Irish chess.” - proposed by Shane Lee

18. Create new line in constitution, article 10.9 “No travel, meal, accommodation or other costs will be met by the Union in respect of members of the executive committee attending committee meetings. Soft drinks and sandwiches should be provided to all attendants for face to face meetings lasting over two hours.” - proposed by Shane Lee

22. All ICU executive committee members residing outside of the county of Dublin shall be able to claim travel expenses for petrol or public transport. Conditional on a receipt being provided to the treasurer, while any executive committee members not residing on the island of island be allowed to claim the same amount of travel expenses as the highest amount paid to any of other ICU executive committee members - proposed by Colm Daly

So... pay to volunteer by food and discounts? That's not exactly the purest of motives to be creating for future executive members, surely? (And if the members of the executive can't work for two hours without needing to be given food, how do they get from lunchtime to quitting time in their day jobs?) And as to expenses - grand when you have the money, a source of complete ****storms when you don't. If you can't drive there, pick up the phone. If you can't afford the phone call, don't volunteer. It's not a mandatory duty, being a volunteer committee member.

28. That candidates for the Irish Womens team should have played at least 18 rated games in the two years (12 in Ireland) previous to the Olympiad.  (For the 2016 Olympiad) - proposed by Gearóidín Uí Laighléis

Fair enough.

29. That the same eligibility rules apply for the Junior, Intermediate and Womens Irish Championships as apply for the Senior. - proposed by Gearóidín Uí Laighléis

Can't really be applied if there's a ratings limit; but it'd be good to get them on a similar footing at least.

I'm not going to comment on motion 30 because I think it's defamatory.

cdeb

Wow. I kind of don't want to go to that AGM because it'll be utter chaos, but on the flip side, I do want to try help swing the balance towards reasonable thinkers. There's some staggering motions in there.

Motions 4 and 5 have no stated grounds at all (and I'm talking about more than just "They were mean to me"). Motion 25 is the same as motion 5 I think (unless I'm missing something). Mirza has some neck criticising the ICU over the Cork incident given that he (a) has refused to comply with the ICU's request to voluntarily abstain from competition while the disciplinary committee investigated it and (b) his behaviour was equally as bad, if not worse, than the cheater. It's also not even clear if he's co-operating with the disciplinary committee as they haven't yet reported back (ten days and counting after the other committee returned its decision).

And to cap it all, he's been nominated for PRO? The person who has brought more negative media attention to chess in Ireland than, well, anyone given his blabbing to the media after the Cork incident in which he basically admitted to assault of a junior ("I forced the cubicle door and I pulled this guy out from the toilet") No thanks. Bernard Palmer wouldn't exactly fill me with confidence from his postings on here either.

A formal rule on cheating is fair enough, though it does need to be more tightly worded alright. I think the first motion amended to be "any ICU-rated event" is probably fair enough. That covers all major events, and not club social blitzes; that kind of thing. But the gas thing is that no-one really knows the exact details of the cheating, or why the committee came to its decision of a four-month suspended ban. All those motions are Daily Mail-style reactionary uproar really.

The idea of an invitational Irish Championships is interesting in theory, but in practice, I don't think there's enough players interested in taking a week's holidays for motion 7 to work really.

I wonder what's behind motion 9?

On motion 13 - I think the point is that the accounts won't be removed for download; they'll always be available from 48 hours before the AGM. Currently, it seems they're handed out at the AGM, and if anyone wants a paper copy, they can write and ask. Last year's accounts are still online, for example. If the motion is just about improving best practice in writing, it's quite reasonable.

I don't see why we need a President that badly (motion 14).

I don't mind paying travel expenses for committee members (happened in the past), but the idea that ICU exec members get a 50% discount because of the work they do is insulting to others who put in hard work running clubs, captaining teams and so forth. Bit of a self-centred motion there. And soft drinks are bad for you.

Number 30 should be thrown out on grounds of irrelevance. That and number 6 (which I can't make head or tail of) are two more bizarre offerings from Mirza. I don't see how he can be taken seriously as an ICU exec member from that document.

How long will this meeting last? Five hours? Six? More? (I think some ICU exec meetings with Colm used to last that long.)

cdeb

Oh, and hidden away out of everyone's attention is no nominations for ICU tournament controller. Same problem the LCU have (and then people give out that tournaments aren't run efficiently). Seems more people wants positions of power and title than ones of work and organisation.

Sparks

cdeb wrote: »

Oh, and hidden away out of everyone's attention is no nominations for ICU tournament controller. Same problem the LCU have (and then people give out that tournaments aren't run efficiently). Seems more people wants positions of power and title than ones of work and organisation.

Same problem I've seen in shooting (and that everyone I've talked to in fifteen years of admin has seen in their sports and clubs) -- if you have a job that's necessary for the sport but which is a chunk of work, offers no chance for personal glory, and especially if it's one of those jobs that when done well attracts no comment and when something slips, gets everyone yelling at everyone else? That job is the one that nobody worthless volunteers for, they're all too busy looking for the jobs with loads of exposure and almost no work.

You want to find people who truly have the best interests of the sport at heart and who you really want to have running things? Find someone who volunteers for those thankless jobs and just does them year on year. Those people are the core of your sport, and without them, everything will go to **** in short order.

EnPassant

cdeb wrote: »

Wow. I kind of don't want to go to that AGM because it'll be utter chaos, but on the flip side, I do want to try help swing the balance towards reasonable thinkers.

I'm thinking of attending myself ... it's a bit sad that there has to be a blitz tournament arranged to try and attract people to the AGM. Maybe voting on nominations and motions could be held over a period of weeks with members able to vote at their clubs, or alternatively club officials could be authorised to cast a block vote on the part of their members.

Sparks/ICU wrote:

[1. Anyone found to have cheated in a chess event in Ireland or representing Ireland, is to be suspended from playing chess in Ireland for a minimum period of 5 years for an adult and 1 year for a minor - proposed by Martin Crichton

15. That any proven cases of cheating against a member be sanctioned with a minimum of a two year ban (one year in case of a junior) except if the committee without dissent votes for a lesser ban. - proposed by Shane Lee

27. Any player caught cheating be expelled from the ICU and banned from all Irish Chess competition for two years. - proposed by Gabriel Mirza

The motions on cheating are clearly motivated by the incident in Cork. But none of them actually mention electronics or receiving outside assistance. Should a player get a 5-year ban if they touch a piece and then move another piece? Or if they don't record their moves properly? There was a famous game where Wolfgang Heidenfeld castled twice ... would this lead to a ban?

As regards the motions for inviting players, I think that only players who have some association with Ireland should be invited eg players living here like Juri Firstov or Yuri Rochev, etc.

Can motions be amended at the AGM or do they stand or fall exactly as they are?

Sparks

EnPassant wrote: »

I'm thinking of attending myself ... it's a bit sad that there has to be a blitz tournament arranged to try and attract people to the AGM.

Yes, but the AGM does seem to be shaping up to be something like listening to the crazy guy on the bus shouting at the bus driver for three hours. Reasonable people generally don't get excited by the prospect of spending their saturday watching that kind of thing, so the blitz tournament is actually a pretty decent idea.

club officials could be authorised to cast a block vote on the part of their members.

Proxy voting like that is standard procedure in almost every other sport for exactly that reason.

The motions on cheating are clearly motivated by the incident in Cork.

Which is why they're all a bad idea. You know the saying - hard cases make bad laws. The focus really should be on the ICU bringing its procedures up to the best practice of the other sports in the country and less with the last step in the process.

Can motions be amended at the AGM or do they stand or fall exactly as they are?

They're normally meant to stand or fall, but because the ICU is an unincorporated association, nobody can force them to reject amendments (which is another reason why governing bodies should never be unincorporated associations).

phnompenhchess

cdeb wrote: »

On motion 13 - I think the point is that the accounts won't be removed for download; they'll always be available from 48 hours before the AGM. Currently, it seems they're handed out at the AGM, and if anyone wants a paper copy, they can write and ask. Last year's accounts are still online, for example. If the motion is just about improving best practice in writing, it's quite reasonable.

I don't mind paying travel expenses for committee members (happened in the past), but the idea that ICU exec members get a 50% discount because of the work they do is insulting to others who put in hard work running clubs, captaining teams and so forth. Bit of a self-centred motion there. And soft drinks are bad for you.

I will comment on this just to avoid any ill informed comment further up this thread hurting a good motion. You are spot on regarding the accounts motion. I prepared the accounts for the past two years and put them online because I felt like it. This motion is just to put it on a more formal basis. I am not preparing the accounts this year but have every confidence in the Treasurer.

As expected nobody is impressed by the suggestion that ICU committee members get entry discounts. They absolutely should not as they are volunteers. I extend that to them collecting expenses from the Union when, if they cannot afford to attend a meeting, they can just Skype in at no cost to the Union. Needless to say the discount motion will not make the AGM floor but is there to provoke thought which I am glad it has.

Not sure what your "self-centered'' comment is about, I proposed these motions and am not on the ICU executive nor am I ever likely to be again.

Whilst I am here I will make comment on two other motions. The first is the one to allow committee members to hand in petrol receipts and get cash in return. Even if this was not abused (which the current wording certainly leaves it open to), my estimate, as someone who is a qualified accountant and closer to the ICU numbers than most, is that at least 5% (and up to 10%) of the Unions funds would be spend on these meetings. It defies logic but is not as terrifying as the motion to allow temporary membership for players playing in one rated event. I do not have the current season figures to analyse it but there must be at least 100 players who play in the Leinster and Munster leagues only (probably far more than this). As the rules stand now they must pay full subscription of EUR35 (or reduced rate EUR20) or they cannot play in the league. Taking the figure at a conservative 100 players, if this EUR10 fee was to be introduced we would immediately drop at least 10% of the years revenue.

cdeb

phnompenhchess wrote: »

As expected nobody is impressed by the suggestion that ICU committee members get entry discounts. They absolutely should not as they are volunteers.

Now I'm confused. What did you propose the motion for then? It hasn't provoked thought; it's just had people saying "That's silly"

Do motion proposers need to be present at the ICU AGM? I know they do at the LCU AGM, and any motion proposed by someone who doesn't attend gets struck out.

reunion

cdeb wrote: »

Now I'm confused. What did you propose the motion for then? It hasn't provoked thought; it's just had people saying "That's silly"

Do motion proposers need to be present at the ICU AGM? I know they do at the LCU AGM, and any motion proposed by someone who doesn't attend gets struck out.

No they don't need to be present at the meeting. Nothing in the constitution requires them to be there. However, the item does need to be seconded before any discussion happens (and then a vote). If the proposer isn't there, sometimes it is hard to get the true intention of the motion; however they are able to send the secretary supplemental items (reasons behind the motion) if they wish which will be available on the day

phnompenhchess

Noted thanks, I have a seconder and will either give him or the Secretary a very brief logic behind each motion to read out.

Sparks

From the ICU website:

Agenda for the upcoming AGM

The AGM and Irish blitz championships are taking place this Sunday, the 29th of September, in the Alexander Hotel.

The agenda can be found here on google docs or can be downloaded here

The meeting will be live streamed to ICU members; for anyone who wants the link; please email the secretary (secretary@icu.ie). This is due to article 7.6 of the constitution which only allows fully paid members of the Union to attend a General Meetings of the Union. Only members physically present at the meeting will be allowed to vote.

Sparks

The agenda, for those in too much of a hurry to wait for acrobat reader to load

2013 Annual General Meeting Agenda of the Irish Chess Union

1. Welcome address by the chairman
2. Apologies
   • Martin Crichton
   • Shane Lee
   • Kevin O'Connell
3. Approval of previous minutes
   • None received
4. Presentation of officers report
5. Presentation of accounts ­ Treasurer
6. Election of new officers
   • Chairman
     • Jonathan O’Connor ­ proposed by Gary O’Grady ­ Nomination accepted
     • Paul Cassidy ­ proposed by Colm Daly ­ Nomination rejected
   • Vice Chairman
     • Pete Morriss ­ proposed by John Cassidy ­ Nomination accepted
     • Colm Daly ­ proposed by Pat Fitzsimmons ­ Nomination accepted
   • Secretary
     • Kevin O’Flaherty ­ proposed by Gary O’Grady ­ Nomination accepted
     • Brian Gaines ­ proposed by Colm Daly
   • Treasurer
     • Noel Keating ­ proposed by John Cassidy ­ Nomination accepted
   • Rating Officer
     • Mark Orr ­ proposed by Gary O’Grady ­ Nomination accepted
   • Membership Officer
     • Noel Keating ­ proposed by John Cassidy ­ Nomination accepted
     • Bernard Palmer ­ proposed by Gabriel Mirza ­ Nomination accepted
   • Development Officer
     • Gary O’Grady ­ proposed by Colm Daly ­ Nomination accepted
   • Junior Officer
     • Darko Polimac ­ proposed by Pete Morriss ­ Nomination accepted
   • Tournament Director
   • Public Relations Officer
     • Garbiel Mirza ­ proposed by Anthony Fox
     • Una O’Boyle ­ proposed by Gary O’Grady ­ Nomination accepted
     • Bernard Palmer ­ proposed by Martin Crichton
   • FIDE Delegate
     • Eamon Keogh ­ proposed by Michael Crowe ­ Nomination accepted
     • Kevin O’Connell ­ proposed by Gary O’Grady ­ Nomination accepted
   • Women's Officer
     • Gearoidin Ui Laighleis ­ proposed by Gary O’Grady ­ Nomination accepted
   • Provincial Union Delegates
7. Motions for consideration
   1. Anyone found to have cheated in a chess event in Ireland or representing Ireland, is to be
      suspended from playing chess in Ireland for a minimum period of 5 years for an adult and
      1 year for a minor ­ proposed by Martin Crichton
   2. Amendment to the Code of conduct; see
      https://docs.google.com/file/d/0BwjlJ5xXCEshakhBTlFISmZ6eVE/edit?usp=sharing ­
      proposed by Pete Morris
   3. Creation of a webmaster role (non­executive (non­voting) role) ­ proposed by Mark Orr
   4. The membership has no confidence in the Chairperson or Secretary of the Irish Chess
      Union ­ proposed by Alan Salsac
   5. This meeting expresses it's lack of confidence in the chairman due to his inept and one
      sided handling of the Cork incident. ­ proposed by Gabriel Mirza
   6. First on the Agenda for the new ICU executive : to tell all the members from October what
      we can get from ICU (example : what it will be paid ­ like entry fees at
      EYCC,WYCC,EUYCC for what you/selections committee did not know about this season
      !) ­ proposed by Gabriel Mirza
   7. The Irish Championships is changed to a strictly over 1800 ICU rated or 1800 FIDE rated
      tournament (and registered with FIDE as IRL) event. Players may also be invited to theevent by the following:
      a. 6 under­18 players may be invited by the Junior Officer
      b. 3 players may be invited by the ICU executive
      c. 3 players may be invited by the Women’s officer
      d. The current Irish Women’s Champion
      e. The current Irish Veteran’s Champion
      f. The current Irish Intermediate Champion
      g. The current Irish Open Champion
      h. 3 players may be invited by each delegate on the Executive (Munster, Connaught,
      Ulster, Leinster, FIDE and IUCA)
      Invited players are not required to be registered as IRL with FIDE or have a rating above
      1800. Invited players may be required to pay an entry fee and ICU membership ­
      proposed by Kevin O’Flaherty
   8. Constitution change ­ addition of “9.8 If an executive member misses 2 committee
      meetings during their term without apologies, they are deemed resigned” ­ proposed by
      Kevin O’Flaherty
   9. Constitution change ­ “5.1 Membership of the union shall be open to all persons who
      agree to be bound by the provisions of this constitution and who comply with its bye
      laws.” changed to “5.1 Every person shall be eligible for membership of the union and are
      bound by the provisions of this constitution and compliance with it’s bye­laws” ­ proposed
      by Kevin O’Flaherty
   10. Introduction of a temporary membership fee ­ The fee to be determined by the incoming
       executive. A temporary member will have no voting rights but is permitted to have 1
       tournament rated ­ proposed by Kevin O’Flaherty
   11. The executive minutes are published at most 1 year after the date of the executive
       meeting. The executive may redact sensitive information from the published minutes. ­
       proposed by Kevin O’Flaherty
   12. In Article 13 replace the line: “Copies of the accounts shall be available for inspection by
       fully paid up members of the Union at the Annual General Meeting and also on written
       request from any fully paid up member (including any body referred to in rule 4.1)” with
       “Copies of the accounts shall be available for download on the ICU website at least 48
       hours before the Annual General Meeting.” ­ proposed by Shane Lee
   13. That the Vice Chairperson be tasked with finding an acceptable and interested candidate
       to act as President of the ICU for the season following the current season. (If this motion
       is passed that this be written into the job role of the ICU Vicechairperson) ­ proposed byShane Lee ­ Proposer wishes to withdraw the motion
   14. That any proven cases of cheating against a member be sanctioned with a minimum of a
       two year ban (one year in case of a junior) except if the committee without dissent votes
       for a lesser ban. ­ proposed by Shane Lee
   15. Create new line in constitution, article 10.8 “The ICU executive should have a minimum of
       four face to face meetings a year with a maximum of four months between any two
       meetings. Interim meetings by Skype (or any other acceptable teleconferencing method
       freely available) are acceptable.” ­ proposed by Shane Lee
   16. That the following line in the constitution be changed from: “10.4 No business shall be
       transacted at any meeting of the Executive Committee unless five members of the
       Committee are present at the time when the meeting proceeds to business.” to: “10.4 No
       business shall be transacted at any meeting of the Executive Committee unless five
       members of the Committee are present, either in person or by other communication
       method, at the time when the meeting proceeds to business.” ­ proposed by Shane Lee
   17. Create new line in constitution, article 10.9 “No travel, meal, accommodation or other
       costs will be met by the Union in respect of members of the executive committee
       attending committee meetings. Soft drinks and sandwiches should be provided to all
       attendants for face to face meetings lasting over two hours.” ­ proposed by Shane Lee
   18. Create new line in constitution, article 9.7 – To be effective from the end of the upcoming
       season, ie after the election of the Chair at the current meeting “The position of
       Chairperson of the Union shall not be held by any one individual for more than three
       consecutive years” ­ proposed by Shane Lee
   19. “That organizers of ICU rated tournaments be called upon to give a 50% entry discount to
       members of the Union executive in recognition of their good service to Irish chess.” ­
       proposed by Shane Lee ­ Proposer wishes to withdraw the motion
   20. The ICU executive committee shall have physical meetings no less than four times a
       year, with a meetings having to be convened at least once within every three months,
       with 50 percent attendance being mandatory for any committee member residing on the
       island of Ireland. A quorum for such meetings being based on the members physically
       present. ­ proposed by Colm Daly
   21. All ICU executive committee members residing outside of the county of Dublin shall be
       able to claim travel expenses for petrol or public transport. Conditional on a receipt being
       provided to the treasurer, while any executive committee members not residing on the
       island of island be allowed to claim the same amount of travel expenses as the highest
       amount paid to any of other ICU executive committee members ­ proposed by Colm Daly
   22. The Position of ICU Chairman shall not be occupied by the same person more than two
       terms consecutively, effective from now. ­ proposed by Colm Daly
   23. The Position of ICU Chairman shall not be occupied by the same person more than three
       terms consecutively, effective from now. ­ proposed by Colm Daly
   24. The ICU meeting expresses it's lack of confidence in the current chairman due to his
       inept and one sided handling of the Cork incident ­ proposed by Gabriel Mirza
   25. ICU informs members in October what tournaments abroad will be supported and what
       level of support will be provided (at least for juniors) ­ proposed by Gabriel Mirza
   26. Any player caught cheating be expelled from the ICU and banned from all Irish Chess
       competition for two years. ­ proposed by Gabriel Mirza
   27. That candidates for the Irish Womens team should have played at least 18 rated games
       in the two years (12 in Ireland) previous to the Olympiad. (For the 2016 Olympiad) ­
       proposed by Gearóidín Uí Laighléis
   28. That the same eligibility rules apply for the Junior, Intermediate and Womens Irish
       Championships as apply for the Senior. ­ proposed by Gearóidín Uí Laighléis
   29. The current chairman reveal the reason behind his employers paying for his visit to
       Istanbul and reassure the membership that this was not to explore the facilitation of
       on­line gambling on chess ­ proposed by Gabriel Mirza
8. Appointment of auditor
9. A.O.B

Sparks

So given that they're running unopposed and have accepted their nominations, some of next year's committee looks settled already:

Chairman|Jonathan O’Connor
Secretary|Kevin O’Flaherty
Treasurer|Noel Keating
Rating Officer|Mark Orr
Public Relations Officer|Una O’Boyle
Development Officer|Gary O’Grady
Junior Officer|Darko Polimac
Women's Officer|Gearoidin Ui Laighleis


With the following going to the vote in the AGM:

Vice Chairman| Pete Morriss ­-v- Colm Daly
Membership Officer|Noel Keating -v- Bernard Palmer
FIDE Delegate|Eamon Keogh -v-­ Kevin O’Connell


And nobody volunteering for the hard work involved in being either a Provincial Union Delegate or the Tournament Director...


edit: changed tables after reunion's post below

reunion

As people haven't notified the secretary of their nomination acceptance or rejection; they are deemed rejected automatically.

So Kevin O'Flaherty is the secretary and Una O'Boyle is the Public relations officer (provided they are seconded at the meeting).

There will be an election (provided candidates are seconded at the meeting) for Vice chairman, Memberhsip Officer and FIDE delegate.

cdeb

I don't understand why two very respectable names are up against each other in the FIDE delegate position.

mikhail

cdeb wrote: »

I don't understand why two very respectable names are up against each other in the FIDE delegate position.

Interested enough to attend the AGM and find out?

cdeb

I'm attending anyway to try swing the balance towards the sane.

mikhail

Good luck.

Sparks

So some of us might have thought that this:

The meeting will be live streamed to ICU members; for anyone who wants the link; please email the secretary (secretary@icu.ie). This is due to article 7.6 of the constitution which only allows fully paid members of the Union to attend a General Meetings of the Union. Only members physically present at the meeting will be allowed to vote.

was a positive thing, but as those of us who signed up for it have learnt today, this has now been cancelled:

email wrote:

Hi,
You have recently applied to the recently advertised live stream of this year's AGM.

Unfortunately, we have received a complaint from an individual and as a result, the live stream will not be going ahead this year without approval at this year's AGM. I will be proposing a motion at the meeting (as an unforeseen motion), that the AGM can be streamed online. I thank you for your interest and hope that the motion passes and the stream can take place online (it will be the same link I sent you).

I apologise for the inconvenience this causes.

Regards
Kevin O'Flaherty
Secretary of the Irish Chess Union

I asked and the individual was Colm Daly.

brilliantboy

Did he elaborate as to the nature of the complaint?
It would be a little hypocritical of Colm to object to having a camera stuck in his face

Sparks

From the ICU website:

2013 Annual General Meeting

Only fully paid members will be allowed to attend the AGM this Saturday; while those registered before the 1st of September will be eligible to vote (article 7.6 of the constitution).

The officers reports for the Junior Officer, Rating Officer, FIDE/ECU delegate, Women's Officer and Secretary are available under articles.

Other officer reports will be online as soon as possible

I'm guessing "Saturday" is a typo?

Sparks

brilliantboy wrote: »

Did he elaborate as to the nature of the complaint?
It would be a little hypocritical of Colm to object to having a camera stuck in his face

Nope, don't know the exact nature of his complaint. I agree though, given the sort of thing that Colm's been writing for years and years about how more transparancy was needed in how chess is run in Ireland, it seems very hypocritical to then act to prevent people from seeing "behind the curtain".

reunion

Sparks wrote: »

Nope, don't know the exact nature of his complaint. I agree though, given the sort of thing that Colm's been writing for years and years about how more transparancy was needed in how chess is run in Ireland, it seems very hypocritical to then act to prevent people from seeing "behind the curtain".

Wow reading some of those; it is actually shocking that what happened 10 years ago is happening again with some roles reversed! In particular the disciplinary committee and this time, apparently, they weren't just out to get one person.

Well I personally don't see a downside to live streaming the AGM and, with people calling for transparency around 'toiletgate'; it seems odd that the person who claims to be acting for the members and transparency doesn't want those unable to make the meeting to be able to know what happens.

But c'est la vie. Hopefully we can have it next year or even if it was proposed at the meeting as an unforseen motion to stream it.

Sparks

Reports from the Tournament Officer, PRO and Development Officer are now up on the ICU website.

Sparks

Jonathan O'Connor returned as chairman. Voting on vice chairman now.

Sparks

Pete morriss elected as vice chairman.

Sparks

Kevin O'Flaherty returned as Secretary.

Sparks

Noel Keating returned as treasurer.

Sparks

Mark Orr returned as ratings officer.

Sparks

Voting on membership officer now.

Sparks

Bernard voted as membership officer (WTF?! Blunder!). Gary O'Grady returned as development officer. Darko Polimac returned as junior officer. Voting on tournament director now.