2019/20

At the end of the July meeting, John Hanlon took on the presidency, for the second time, 23 years after his previous term. Des Power and Dermot Arnold continued as Secretary and Treasurer once more. Outgoing President Phyllis Davis wished John all the best in the coming year and President John, who spoke about his hopes for the year ahead.

During the year we were very sad to note the passing of Michael Brosnan. Mick was a very popular member of the club over the years and a well-known character in the area. He had been unwell for some time, during which he was regularly visited by club members. At his funeral the club provided a guard of honour. Patricia, Mick’s widow, was very appreciative for members’ attendance and for their attention to Mick over the long period of his illness.

Also this year our member Liz Walsh lost her brother David. He had been a prominent figure in the life of the town and had contributed to good causes in many ways. It was pointed out that he had been a participant in our very first Jigs & Reels event.

The club lost another friend over Christmas, Danny McGrath. Danny had been well known to the Club and had been official photographer for Jigs & Reels over the years.

On a happy note this year’s social evening was held at the Old Bank The club was pleased to support this new venture of Michael Ryan’s as Michael had been such a strong supporter of the Lions over the years. Participants enjoyed a drinks reception of Prosecco or Mulled Wine and a three-course meal.

The guest speaker, Richie Walsh of Waterford Council, spoke about the future plans for Dungarvan and the surrounding area.

As always The Christmas Appeal was a resounding success, on the back of a huge workload from members.

Fundraising activities continued at a pace through November and December. These included the Annual Giant Raffle, Collections, Schools fundraising events, contributions from local Clubs, Music Nights, Quiz Night, The Shamrock Breakfast and last but by no means least the annual collection by the Fire service members.

We are most grateful to all involved who organised these events and activities and especially the members of the public through Dungarvan and West Waterford who as ever contributed most generously. The Christmas Appeal helps hundreds of individuals and families across West Waterford.

The Christmas Swim was as always a huge success. We are most grateful to those who give of their time on Christmas morning and in particular Aoife O’Brien who again supplied the soup for the participants.

Through the autumn and into the Winter Rina Landers organised very successful nursing home visits by members of the Club. As always our warmest appreciation to Ann Fielding who led her merry band of musicians in providing the entertainment.

Coming into the New Year we were planning events, such as a concert in the Park Hotel featuring De Banned under the leadership of Michael Drummy. We also planned a repeat of the very successful Mid-Summer Soiree at Woodhouse estate.

Reluctantly, the Club decided that Jigs & Reels would not be held following ten superb years. It had become increasingly difficult to recruit participants and it was agreed to go out on the high that was the 2019 event.

The club agreed to continue the East meets West fun cycle event which is held in conjunction with the Waterford City Lions club, the proceeds of which go to the Waterford Hospice.

Phyllis Davis was busy planning the ever popular Trabolgin holiday; she had taken bookings and was anticipating a very successful event.

Then the virus struck, and from mid-March all planned events, including the monthly meeting in Lawlors Hotel were cancelled in line with HSE recommendations.

Contact was made with members to ensure that all are having their needs met, especially during the restricted movement period.

The Management Committee met on-line using the Zoom video conferencing computer application.

A sum of €1,000 was donated to the Hero Shield project, which was agreed unanimously by the Management Committee, and retrospectively confirmed at the on-line July meeting of the Club. This was part of a target of €100,000 for the District, to enable the production 200,000 face masks for frontline workers - we are aware that Carriglea have ordered 400 of these masks. These were also availed of by the Déise Care Centre.

We published a list of Help lines and support phone numbers of agencies offering assistance during this difficult time.

In normal times The Presidential Chain of Office is passed from the out-going President to the incoming President at the end of our July meeting. These, however, are not normal times. The Corona Virus prevented the normal monthly meeting being held in Lawlor’s Hotel. And the ensuing hand over of the chain.

The meeting was held on-line using the Zoom application and 20 enthusiastic members took part. At the end of the Meeting President John Hanlon handed over the office of President to the safe keeping of John Considine. President John Considine advised the meeting that Shay O’Connor has agreed to be his Vice-President for the coming year. The chain of office will be passed on (adhering to social distancing of course) at a later date.

It is hard to believe that there was a normal life before March of 2020.

As with everyone else in the country these are proving to be challenging times and though challenged, the Dungarvan Lions Club will continue to be of service to our community