A warm and sunny Autumn day greeted delegates and members who took part in the Annual General Meeting of MAG Ireland in Waterford on Saturday 28th September 2013.
MAG Ireland – Protecting your rights
This AGM was an important one for MAG Ireland as we continue to implement changes to make the organisation more responsive and flexible in order better represent Irish motorcyclists.
Some of the key changes voted through at the 2013 AGM included:
- The adoption of a new constitution
- Changes to life membership criteria
- A new policy on distracted driving
- Abolition of quarterly membership payments
- Abolition of honour titles
The new constitution takes effect immediately, and has been written to take account of the way in which MAG Ireland operates today. It streamlines the organisation, ensures accountability and provides a more effective and practical framework to govern the way MAG Ireland is run.
Other changes adopted at the AGM will be coming on stream in the months ahead as they require some time to implement. Quarterly payments which were introduced when the membership fees were much higher than they are today have been abolished in favour of standard annual payments. Life memberships have been limited to ten years, and honour titles such as president and vice president have been discontinued.
The changes adopted at the 2013 AGM will allow MAG Ireland to establish itself on a sustainable footing and will allow us to make the most of our limited resources.
Personnel Changes
The 2013 AGM was marked by the departure of a number of long serving board members, and we sincerely thank them for their contribution. MAG Ireland would not exist today without the effort put in by these volunteers over many years and countless hours of work.
Outgoing Chairman Marc O’Loideoin stepped down after 16 years involvement with MAG Ireland having held the position of Chair for the past three years. Marc was involved at every level in MAG Ireland and ably represented Irish riders in Europe on a number of occasions as our delegate to FEMA.
Marc was one of the lead contributors on the RSA publication “This is Your Bike” and continues to consult on rider training.
In 2011 Marc rode a Honda C90 scooter down through Spain and across northwest Africa to Bansang Hospital in The Gambia. You can read more about those exploits on gapper.magireland.org. For our part, we on the current MAG Ireland board extend our sincere thanks on behalf of the membership for the tenacity with which Marc worked to promote and protect Irish motorcycling. We wish him well.
Former Treasurer Linda O’Loideoin stepped down earlier this year for personal reasons (post here) and attended the 2013 AGM to assist in the transition process having started the year in the role of Treasurer.
Linda was for many years the backbone of MAG Ireland taking on the administrative side of running the organisation day to day, while also fulfilling various roles including road safety officer, treasurer, RoadRunner editor and spokesperson. Linda was instrumental in breaking the motorcycle insurance monopoly in Ireland in the mid noughties.
We’re happy to report that Linda is thoroughly enjoying her free time and we extend our sincere gratitude for her invaluable assistance.
Legal officer Gearoid O’Byrne has given some 15 years of dedicated service to MAG Ireland having held a number of roles including that of vice chairman and chairman, holding the latter title for three years.
A practicing solicitor, Gearoid’s extensive legal knowledge and ability to interpret “legalese” of the sort commonly encountered by MAG Ireland in our day to day activities was invaluable and his even handed approach was respected by all sides in any dispute.
His invariably witty yet thoughtful responses won over many an indifferent bureaucrat and his foresight avoided many a pitfall for MAG Ireland. Gearoid has ably served Irish motorcyclists for well over a decade and we’re sorry to see him go. We wish him the very best in the future.
Pat Whelan took on the post of Insurance and Industry rep in 2012 as a newcomer to the MAG Ireland board and quickly found himself involved in the wider running of MAG Ireland.
Pat was was instrumental in the organisation of the MAG Ireland stand at a number of events, notably the RDS Bike Show and the VJMC Show amongst others, and proved adept at reforming our procedures.
Pat represented MAG Ireland at a number of official functions and was also a key member of the sub committee tasked with organising the various “Meet MAG Ireland” events we ran over the past eighteen months. His enthusiasm and energy will be sorely missed by the incoming board we wish him the very best in his next endeavours.
Graeme Muirhead is stepping down as a board member but will remain involved in MAG Ireland as an active volunteer. Graeme’s passion for bikes shines through and his previous experience with MAG Scotland has proved very useful in bringing MAG Ireland’s message to the various runs and rallies.
Graeme continues to work closely with Rally Rep Animal, and together they organised MAG Ireland’s “On The Road” Rally in July, the first rally run by MAG Ireland since the “Stop the Rot” rallies a decade ago.
While we’re sorry to see Graeme step down as an elected member of the board, we’re delighted that he will continue to be a an active MAG Ireland supporter and advocate.
A number of people have come forward to offer their assistance and expertise of late and we are sure that we’ll see some new faces co-opted onto the board over the coming year. As the saying goes – “Watch this space!”
| MAG Ireland extend our thanks to the staff of local dealership Waterford Harley Davidson who generously provided the venue and supplied copious quantities of tea and coffee.
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The current MAG Ireland board can be found here: https://www.magireland.org/mag-officers/