AGM - Glenavy 18/02/2012

[willie reynolds]

The Annual General Meeting of the NIPA the 67th since the formation will take place in the Protestant Hall, Glenavy on Saturday 18th February at 2.00pm sharp. It should be noted that only Club Delegates can vote or enter into business of the meeting, the official Delegate Cards are used for voting. No discussion is allowed on Resolutions.

Resolution No 1. Submitted by Ballymoney HPS –
That no liberation of young birds take place after 2.00pm.

Resolution No 2. Submitted by Ballymena & District –
Insert new General Rule 3G. If necessary matters raised at Section Meetings including any Propositions may be referred to the Management Committee for their consideration.

Resolution No 3. Submitted by Dromore HPS and Monaghan HPS –
That both the Old Bird & Young Bird Nationals be race marked on the day previous to the proposed liberation date.

Resolution No 4. Submitted by Dromore HPS –
That no transporter when being deployed for collection of birds, race marked for transportation to any race point will be permitted to have any empty spaces ie. missing crates on board.

Resolution No 5. Submitted by Cullybackey HPS –
That the NIPA publishes all National Results in the BHW pigeon weekly as soon as possible after the race.

Resolution No 6. Submitted by Monaghan HPS –
For the welfare of the pigeons especially young birds release times be earlier when suitable.

Resolution No 7. Submitted by Lisburn & District –
Delete NIPA General Rule 54 and replace with new General Rule 54.
Race Management. The race advisor and convoyer in consultation with weather forecasting agencies are given full authority to move race marking dates, to get the best possible conditions for to liberate. If weather conditions show no improvement the race advisor has the authority to cancel the race. The race programme to be flown if possible as arranged with the cancelled race/races included and race dates moved back.

Resolution No 8. Submitted by Lisburn & District –
Delete General Rule 55 and replace with new General Rule 55. If in transit or at the liberation site the weather conditions deteriorate and are unsuitable for liberation, the race advisor in consultation with the convoyer has the authority to move the convoy of pigeons to another liberation site. All members will be kept fully informed on Lib-line and Web-site.

Resolution No 9. Submitted by Armagh, Laurelvale, Drumcree and Monaghan HPS –
All Inland Nat races to have an entry fee of £1 Open & £2 Section.

Resolution No 10. Submitted by Armagh, Laurelvale, Drumcree and Monaghan HPS –
The present Race Committee be disbanded and a new one formed to be made up of one member of each Section.

Resolution No 11. Submitted by Armagh, Laurelvale, and Drumcree –
Two paid fanciers/ex fanciers to accompany the lorries to all races to oversee the welfare of the pigeons. These fanciers to have authority to inspect everything in connection with the transport, care and release of the pigeons.

Resolution No 12. Submitted by Armagh, Laurelvale, Drumcree and Monaghan HPS –
The NIPA to publish all Sect & Open Results in the BHW.

Resolution No 13. Submitted by Portadown Invitation –
The Open positions and prizes in all National & Classic races excluding the French National to be one position for every 15 birds entered. The French National to be one position for every 10 birds entered.

All clubs must hold a meeting on the Resolutions and mandate their Delegate(s) on how to cast their vote on behalf of the club.


Secretary’s Report 2011/12

In all the time I have been Secretary of the NIPA , 2011 was the most difficult racing season I have ever known. The season started well with beautiful weather and perfect racing. However when the good spell of weather came to an end it never recovered and trying to predict the weather became almost impossible.

I relied almost every week on the assistance of the Race Committee for guidance and advice, also Met Erin were very helpful. We all did our best to try and find a race day and liberation time to suit pigeons. I am totally aware that not all the decisions turned out to be correct, but they were taken in good faith with the information we had presented to us. No one can accurately predict what the weather will do, it has a mind of its own and we do not always understand what it has in store for us.

Racing was far from perfect, we had to cancel a Talbenny race, the next Talbenny was erratic, the Old bird Nat was one of our better ones, and the young bird race from Tullamore was not a very good race, it was simply very erratic. Some fanciers had good returns, some not so good, and some very poor. I sincerely hope that 2012 proves to be a good year for pigeon racing. However I truly must thank everyone who assisted and did their very best for you to enjoy your racing. Anthony, Alan, Ken, David, Ivan, Terry, David, and the forecasters at Met Erin. Without their dedication to this extremely difficult task, I would have found it impossible to organize pigeon racing. To those of you who have complained you are extremely welcome to join the team and assist in the decision making.

I would also like to thank the transport drivers for carrying out thair duties and looking after our pigeons every week. We have a magnificent team of drivers and I have every confidence in their ability to care for our pigeons. Our Transport Manager and Convoyer does a magnificent job for the NIPA. The NIPA is very fortunate to have the assistance and ability of Terry Mulgrew and I personally appreciate everything he does.

The Race Controller has a most difficult job and the time he spends gathering information on the weather is very much appreciated. A most difficult job well done and I on your behalf would like to thank Ivan. The NIPA Officers, Committee members, Club Secretary’s and Treasurers – Thank you all for assisting me to run this organization as smoothly as possible. To everyone else who assisted the NIPA during 2011, on behalf of our members I sincerely wish to thank you all.

You will now have received your Statement of Accounts for 2011, and I am pleased to present them to you. We have managed to keep the organization in the Black for yet another year. It is my intention to recommend to your Committee that we continue to hold the cost of crates for another season. I am sure this information will be welcomed by all. It is now five years since you have seen an increase and you are all aware at the continuing pressure on expenses, especially diesel. There will be one proviso to this recommendation, everything would have to remain the same. Any decisions made by clubs that will increase expenditure will have to be paid for by an increase in the price of crates. I sincerely hope this will not arise, it is entirely in your hands.

During the year the NIPA has carried out a number of improvements to the Transporters, Headquarters, and Computer Software. The funds are in place to do all these improvements, a new Small Trailer has been built which will assist if we need extra space. The watering system on all Transporters have been updated. The NIPA has purchased a new Headquarters and it is a privelage to work in it and in comfort. Over £50,000 has been spent and we are not finished. All Transporters will be fitted out with new curtains which are designed to let in air, light and be waterproof all at the same time.

You can do all this while you enjoy a healthy Balance Sheet, and your organization is in a very strong position with the Capital Account standing at £625,425. 2012 will no doubt be more challenging and difficult, however we will do our utmost to keep expenditure as low as possible. Any Club wishing to have an explanation on any part of the accounts can send me their query in writing before the AGM, and I will endeavour to answer all queries.

The AGM Agenda is quite long this year with some 14 Resolutions forwarded to the agenda and half as many rejected by the Committee. I was encouraged by some Sections organising Section Meetings but deeply disappointed that not one idea came forward on how to cut costs. Cost cutting will have to take place quite soon and it would be much better if ideas came from the membership, rather than having to be imposed by the Management Committee.

I will take some time and go through the various Resolutions with you and do my best to give you an explanation for each one. It is up to you as to how you cast your vote but I hope your choice is in the interest of all our members.

Resolution No 1 submitted by Ballymoney. If this Resolution is adopted the Race Controller will have an official time limit on liberation times.

Resolution No 2 submitted by Ballymena. If this Resolution is adopted it will allow Section Meetings to forward Resolutions and matters arising to the Management Committee for their consideration. The present system of forwarding Resolutions to the Management Committee is from Clubs only.

Resolution No 3 submitted by Dromore & Monaghan. If this Resolution is adopted race marking for the Inland OB & YB Nationals will take place on the day previous to the proposed liberation date. If adopted race marking at the various Nat Centres will be up to three hours earlier than usual. ie. If your collection time was around 6.00pm you could now expect to be collected around 3.00pm. It would make arranging a Comeback Race on the same day difficult but not impossible. I must ask the question, and this may never happen. If the best day for a race is a Monday, does this mean you will agree to race mark on a Sunday?

Resolution No 4 submitted by Dromore. If this Resolution is adopted no Transporters will be allowed to collect pigeons with empty spaces. At the moment the only Transporter that has spaces is the small transporter which collects part of Sect F. These crates are transferred in Dromore on to the Transporter which collects the remainder of Sect F. This small Transporter has curtains attached which keeps the crates as secure as possible. This Transporter very rarely goes to the race point and with the introduction of our new Trailer this Transporter may become redundant and only used in extreme emergency. To fill out this Transporter I would need approx 100 Crates, and I will be requesting club’s to give up at least one crate to meet with this Resolution.

Resolution No 5 submitted by Cullybackey. If this Resolution is adopted it will cost approx £300 per race, the new software installed in our computer can now relate directly to the BHW and there is no problem at carrying out this request. I am also trying to get the News Letter to agree publishing all our results free, I hope I am successful.

Resolution No 6 submitted by Monaghan. If this Resolution is adopted the release time of your pigeons if weather conditions permitted could be as early as possible.

Resolution No 7 & 8 submitted by Lisburn. If these Resolutions are adopted it will allow the relevant people to make decisions much more easily.

Resolution No 9 submitted by Armagh, Laurelvale, Drumcree and Monaghan. If this Resolution is adopted there will be virtually no Open Prize-money and as these races are self supporting , in some instances for the first time part of your Sect entry money would have to be deducted to cover the cost of running the race.

Resolution No 10 submitted by Armagh, Laurelvale, Drumcree and Monaghan. If this Resolution is passed it will increase the number of members from 4 to 8. It is up to you if you think this move will assist in decision making.

Resolution No 11 submitted by Armagh, Drumcree and Laurelvale. If this Resolution is passed it will increase the costs and those costs will have to be passed on to the crate price. If you have not the full confidence in your present employees, you should not re-employ them. I believe if this Resolution is passed and adopted it will not be well received by the drivers, at someone always looking over their shoulder.

Resolution No 12 submitted by Armagh, Laurelvale, Drumcree and Monaghan. If this Resolution is adopted discussions will have to take place on costs with the BHW. To print a full result each week will take up a lot of space in the BHW.

Resolution No 13 submitted by Portadown. If this Resolution is adopted it will increase the number of positions in Open & Section as it is reducing the number from 1 in 20 Entries to 1 in 15.

This just leaves me to wish you all a very successful racing season in 2012.

Fred Russell, Secretary.

NIPA Race Programmes for Voting

A Voting Paper for the 2012 Race Programme has been sent to each member club and must be returned to the Secretary Fred Russell before the AGM on Saturday 18th February. All told we have four programmes and clubs must return the number of votes for each, an OB & YB Prog submitted by the NIPA Committee and an OB & YB Prog submitted by Ligoniel HPS.

NIPA Committee OB Race Programme 2012. April 14th Tullamore, April 21st Tullamore, April 28th Roscrea, May 5th Clonmel, May 12th Fermoy, May 19th Rosscarbery OB Inl Nat, May 26th Fermoy, June 2nd Talbenny, June 5th Rosscarbery Yearling Hen/Cock Nat, June 9th Talbenny, June 9th Fermoy, June 16th Bude, June 16th Fermoy 5 Bird Championship, June 23rd Penzance, June 23rd Penzance OB Classic, June 29th St Malo OB National.

Ligoniel HPS OB Race Programme 2012. April 14th Tullamore, April 21st Tullamore, April 28th Roscrea, May 5th Clonmel, May 12th Clonmel, May 19th Pilmore Beach, May 26th Rosscarbery OB Inl Nat & Roscrea Comeback, June 2nd Talbenny, June 6th Rosscarbery Yearling Hen/Cock Nat, June 9th Talbenny, June 9th Clonmel Comeback, June 16th Bude, June 16th Fermoy 5 Bird Championship, June 23rd Penzance, June 23rd Penzance OB Classic, June 29th Quimper OB National.

NIPA Committee YB Race Programme 2012. July 21st Official Race Mullingar, Tullamore. Two Liberations Top Half - Clubs Above 54 36’, Bottom Half – Clubs Below 54 36’. July 28th Tullamore Mass Liberation, August 4th Roscrea, August 11th Roscrea, August 18th Clonmel, August 25th Fermoy, September 1st Talbenny Nat, September 1st Tullamore, September 8th Fermoy and Fermoy 5 Bird, September 15th Rosscarbery Nat. Before YB Racing the Secretary will meet with all NIPA Sections to finalise the arrangements for the Area Liberation.

Ligoniel HPS YB Race Programme 2012. July 21st Mullingar Area Lib Sect C, July 28th Tullamore Area Sect C, August 4th Roscrea Mass Liberation, August 11th Roscrea, August 18th Clonmel, August 25th Pilmore Beach, September 1st Talbenny Nat, September 1st Tullamore Comeback, September 8th Fermoy and Fermoy 5 Bird, September 15th Rosscarbery Nat. Other NIPA Sections to determine their own release point for the Area Liberations.

[willie reynolds]

90 Minute AGM for NIPA

The Annual General Meeting of the NIPA the 67th since the formation was held in the Protestant Hall, Glenavy on Saturday 18th February, Acting Chairman Alan Darragh called order at 2.00pm and welcomed a large attendance of Delegates from member clubs and enquired if all had signed the attendance book. He asked them firstly to observe a moments silence in respect of members and friends who had passed away during the past season.

All the voting papers for the race programmes submitted by Ligoniel HPS and the NIPA Committee had been returned by 68 clubs and voting was as follows. Ligoniel Y/B 248 votes, Committee Y/B 642, Ligoniel O/B 169, Committee O/B 741. It means the standing programme has been successful and is as follows.

Old Birds: April 14th Tullamore, April 21st Tullamore, April 28th Roscrea, May 5th Clonmel, May 12th Fermoy, May 19th Rosscarbery OB Inl Nat, May 26th Fermoy, June 2nd Talbenny, June 5th Rosscarbery Yearling Hen/Cock Nat, June 9th Talbenny, June 9th Fermoy, June 16th Bude, June 16th Fermoy 5 Bird Championship, June 23rd Penzance, June 23rd Penzance OB Classic, June 29th St Malo OB National.

Young Birds: July 21st Official Race Mullingar, Tullamore. Two Liberations Top Half - Clubs Above 54 36’, Bottom Half – Clubs Below 54 36’. July 28th Tullamore Mass Liberation, August 4th Roscrea, August 11th Roscrea, August 18th Clonmel, August 25th Fermoy, September 1st Talbenny Nat, September 1st Tullamore, September 8th Fermoy and Fermoy 5 Bird, September 15th Rosscarbery Nat. Before YB Racing the Secretary will meet with all NIPA Sections to finalise the arrangements for the Area Liberation.

Secretary Fred Russell read the minutes of the last AGM these were accepted as a true record as was the Secretary’s Report which had been sent to all clubs and published in the Fancy Press. The Accounts were passed after a couple of questions and there was no other outstanding 2011 Business. All items were pushed through very quickly as had been the case for the past couple of years.

Next up the Election of Officers for 2012, Joe Kelly from Londonderry had completed his two seasons as President and he handed over control to Senior Vice-President Herbie Boyd from Dungannon, Joe thanked the members for their support over the past two years and Herbie said it was a great honour to be President of what he said was the best organization in the whole of the UK. Herbie presented a £200 Cheque from the NIPA to Joe to pass on to his designated charity which I believe is the Hospital Ward he attended for his illness.

Herbie conducted the remainder of the election the Senior Vice-President will be Alan Darragh and Life Vice Presidents now are Malcolm Livingstone (Portadown), Diamond Carson (Banbridge) and Joe Kelly (Londonderry). All the top positions remain unchanged Chairman Lyndin Boyle, Vice Chairman Alan Darragh, Financial Secretary Fred Russell, Assistant Secretary Gregory McEvoy, Fleet Supervisor Terry Mulgrew, Convoyer to be discussed at next meeting. Press Officer Willie Reynolds & Stephen McGarry, Race Advisor Ivan Mawhinney, Auditors Robinson & Co (Portadown). RPRA Delegates – K Quigley & P Breslin.

For the Finance, Transport and General Purposes Management Committee most remained unchanged with Sect C & G the only ones involved in a vote between members. Sect A & H: A McDonnell, H Boyd, P McLaughlin. Sect B: K Wilkinson, G Magill, G McDowell, K Kernohan. Sect C: R Reid, D Campbell, W Ferguson, W Seaton, S McGarry and D Smyth replaced by W McClelland of Ballyclare. Sect D: J Vage Jnr, G McEvoy, J McCready, B McKibben. Sect E: K Henderson, J Parr, G Campbell, S Corrigan. Sect F: P Murray, V Pollock, R Thompson. Sect G: J Donaldson and D Carson replaced by Newry members K Byrne & G Hughes. Representation is to be examined for the Derry Area in Sect H.

The meeting continued moving on to Resolutions, no discussion is allowed since all member clubs had local meetings to mandate their Delegates on voting procedure.

Resolution No 1. Submitted by Ballymoney HPS –
That no liberation of young birds take place after 2.00pm. Carried. For 65, against 19.

Resolution No 2. Submitted by Ballymena & District –
Insert new General Rule 3G. If necessary matters raised at Section Meetings including any Propositions may be referred to the Management Committee for their consideration. Carried. For 57, against 26.

Resolution No 3. Submitted by Dromore HPS and Monaghan HPS –
That both the Old Bird & Young Bird Nationals be race marked on the day previous to the proposed liberation date. Carried. For 51, against 36.

Resolution No 4. Submitted by Dromore HPS –
That no transporter when being deployed for collection of birds, race marked for transportation to any race point will be permitted to have any empty spaces ie. missing crates on board. Carried. For 50, against 33.

Resolution No 5. Submitted by Cullybackey HPS –
That the NIPA publishes all National Results in the BHW pigeon weekly as soon as possible after the race. Carried. For 65, against 25.

Resolution No 6. Submitted by Monaghan HPS –
For the welfare of the pigeons especially young birds release times be earlier when suitable. Carried. For 75, against 10.

Resolution No 7. Submitted by Lisburn & District –
Delete NIPA General Rule 54 and replace with new General Rule 54.
Race Management. The race advisor and convoyer in consultation with weather forecasting agencies are given full authority to move race marking dates, to get the best possible conditions for to liberate. If weather conditions show no improvement the race advisor has the authority to cancel the race. The race programme to be flown if possible as arranged with the cancelled race/races included and race dates moved back. Carried. For 75, against 7.

Resolution No 8. Submitted by Lisburn & District –
Delete General Rule 55 and replace with new General Rule 55. If in transit or at the liberation site the weather conditions deteriorate and are unsuitable for liberation, the race advisor in consultation with the convoyer has the authority to move the convoy of pigeons to another liberation site. All members will be kept fully informed on Lib-line and Web-site. Carried Unanimous.

Resolution No 9. Submitted by Armagh, Laurelvale, Drumcree and Monaghan HPS –
All Inland nat races to have an entry fee of £1 Open & £2 Section. Ruled Out of Order.

Resolution No 10. Submitted by Armagh, Laurelvale, Drumcree, Monaghan HPS –
The present Race Committee be disbanded and a new one formed to be made up of one member of each Section. Lost. For 38, against 45.

Resolution No 11. Submitted by Armagh, Laurelvale, and Drumcree –
Two paid fanciers/ex fanciers to accompany the lorries to all races to oversee the welfare of the pigeons. These fanciers to have authority to inspect everything in connection with the transport, care and release of the pigeons. Lost. For 25, against 64.

Resolution No 12. Submitted by Armagh, Laurelvale, Drumcree, Monaghan HPS –
The NIPA to publish all Sect & Open Results in the BHW. Lost. For 40, against 43.

Resolution No 13. Submitted by Portadown Invitation –
The Open positions and prizes in all National & Classic races excluding the French National to be one position for every 15 birds entered. The French National to be one position for every 10 birds entered. Carried. For 51, against 37.

As a result of decisions made no increased charges to apply for 2012. A very successful meeting closed at 3.30pm, the quickest I have ever attended over many years. The next NIPA Committee meeting will be held Monday 19th March at the office in Dromore.