An Extraordinary General Meeting of the Irish Chess Union was held in The Teachers Club, Parnell Square, Dublin 1, on Sunday 4th September, 2005 at 2pm. Gerry OConnell chaired it.
Agenda
- Chairmans address
- Proposed amendments to the Constitution
Committee members present were Eamonn Pitts (Chairman), Shannon Clements (Secretary), Gerry OConnell (Treasurer), Pat Fitzsimons (Leinster Delegate), Marion Vaughan (Munster Delegate), Vincent Bissett (Ratings Officer), James Osborne (Membership Officer), Johanna Lowry-OReilly (Junior Officer), John Healy and Kevin Burke (ICJ Editors). Apologies from Shirley Flynn (Vice-Chairperson), Ronan Duke (Connacht Delegate).
A total of 32 ordinary members attended: Ron Cummins, Alan MacDonagh, John Alfred, John Crowley, Jack Killane, Martin Crichton, Colm Daly, Nicola Benson, William Brennan, John Maher, James Vaughan, Brian Thorpe, Paul Kiely, Mark Heidenfeld, Eamon Keogh, Ronan Sweeney, Michael Hanly, Mark McGovern, Killian Delaney, Robert Stuart, Rory Delaney, Ben Quigley, John Quigley, Stephen Moran, Peter C. Jackson, Peter Scott, Brian Grzymek, Bernadette Stokes, Gerard MacElligott, Gearoidin UiLaighleis, and Joe Ryan. One signature could not be read.
There were 3 attendees not eligible to vote.
Chairmans Address
Eamonn Pitts welcomed the members to the EGM, and introduced the need to make some changes to the existing Constitution which included:
- Existing constitution is not being implemented in full in practice, and better to change to reflect reality;
- Need to insert references to our commitment to protect young people in our sport;
- Need to make it less legalistic;
- Need to make position of Junior Committee clear; and
- Need to adjust voting rights.
Article 1 (Name)
No changes.
Article 2 (General Powers And Authority Of The Union)
The Union is the governing body of chess in Ireland, and is affiliated to the International Chess Federation (F.I.D.E.) and the European Chess Union. In this capacity it has the sole responsibility to nominate individual players and teams to represent Ireland in international chess tournaments or events organised under the auspices of these bodies.
Article 3 (Specific Objectives And Powers Of The Union).
No changes.
Proposed new Article 4 (Code of Good Practice for Children in Chess).
The Union undertakes in all its activities to have special regard for the protection of children in chess. It undertakes to ensure that a Code of Good Practice for Children in Chess is implemented in clubs, and provincial unions and that procedures for dealing with any complaints are put in place.
Old Article 4 (Membership), proposed new Article 5.
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.
5.2 The fees and subscriptions to be paid for membership shall be determined by the Executive annually in advance of the Annual General Meeting and shall be reported to that meeting in the Treasurers Report.
Proposed new Article 6 (Provincial Chess Unions).
6.1 The Union recognises the special role played by provincial chess unions in helping it to promote the sport. These bodies are affiilated to the Union and have a right of representation on its Executive and to send two delegates each to General Meetings of the Union. The Union may recognise other bodies or organisations connected with chess in Ireland as affiliates.
Old Article 5 (General Meetings), proposed Article 7.
7.1 The AGM shall be held between 1st July and 30th September in each calendar year
7.6 (Amended to sixteen years) - Only fully paid members of the Union are qualified to receive notice of, to attend, speak or vote at General Meetings of the Union. However members of the Union who are under the age of twelve years on the previous 1st of January, shall be entitled to attend but not to vote at General Meetings. Whether in the case of an AGM or an EGM, payment of membership fees before the notice of the meeting is issued, shall determine eligibility to vote. However if an EGM is called within four months of an AGM, those who were eligible to vote at the AGM, will be considered eligible to vote at the EGM.
There was a general discussion on this proposal and there were 2 other ages proposed and a vote was taken. For 18 years there were 2 for and the majority against; for 16 years there were 26 for and 10 against; and for 12 there were 9 for and the majority against. The proposed amendment will therefore be changed to sixteen years.
7.8 All questions arising at general meetings of the Union shall be decided by a majority of votes of the members present and voting. In the case of votes for the election of members of the Executive Committee, voting shall be by written ballot. Votes on all other questions shall be cast by a show of hands, unless the presiding Chairman shall decide otherwise. In the event of a tied vote, (either in an election or on a motion), the presiding Chairman shall have an additional casting vote.
Old Article 6 (Extraordinary General Meetings), proposed Article 8.
No changes.
Old Article 7 (Membership of Executive Committee), proposed Article 9.
9.1 (e) dropped
9.2 The Executive Committee shall consist of a Chairman, Vice Chairman, Secretary, Treasurer, Rating Officer, Membership Officer, Development Officer, Junior Officer, and of one member nominated by each of the Provincial Unions.
9.3 At each Annual General Meeting of the Union, one person shall be elected to each of the officer positions mentioned in Article 9.2. If the number of candidates qualified to stand for a position exceeds one, a ballot shall be held using the system of proportional representation (single transferable vote). In the event of a tie, the presiding Chairman shall have a casting vote.
If no candidates have been validly nominated for a particular position, the Chairman shall accept nominations from the floor. If more than one candidate is validly nominated, a secret ballot shall be held among these candidates and the candidate attracting the greatest number of votes shall be declared elected.
None of the successful candidates shall take up their positions until after the end of the meeting.
In the event that there are no candidates for an Officer position at the Annual General Meeting, after nominations have been sought from the floor, the incoming Executive will have the power to nominate a member of the Union to carry out these duties. This power shall also apply in the event of casual vacancies arising over the course of a year.
Old Article 8 (The Executive Committee), proposed Article 10
10.2 first legalistic clause omitted.
10.5 to replace 8.7 (8.5 and 8.6 gone or subsumed in other articles) - The Executive may appoint persons, who are not members of the executive, to carry out specific functions or responsibilities (e.g Team Selection, Tournament Director, Journal Editor, Arbitration, Membership of Disciplinary Committee), provided that any person appointed is a member of the Union and shall at all times be answerable to the Executive. No person given a function in this way shall be deemed to be a holder of an office and the Committee may deprive that person of his functions or responsibilities, if it considers they are not being carried out in a satisfactory way.
10.6 to replace 8.8 - The Executive may also appoint sub committees to carry out specific tasks or responsibilities. Sub Committees will normally be chaired by a Member of the Executive.
10.7 new - There shall be a junior sub committee which shall have specific responsibility for promoting chess among those under 19 and for organising National Championships at various under age levels. This Committee will be chaired by the Junior Officer elected at the Annual General Meeting. Each of the Provincial unions will have the right to nominate a delegate active in Junior Chess to this Committee It will have a wide level of independence in the organisation of its affairs and will have its own accounts. These accounts will be considered part of the ICU accounts and be subject to audit.
There was a general discussion on this proposal and a vote taken. There were 26 for and 8 against, and the proposal was accepted.
10.8 new (FAILED) - In the period between meetings of the Executive Committee, The Chairman will have responsibility for any urgent decisions, which cannot await a meeting of the Executive. On matters of serious import, (s)he will endeavour to consult widely with members of the Executive (through telephone, email etc) before making a decision.
There was a general discussion on this proposal and a vote taken. There were 16 for and 15 against, and the proposal failed as a two thirds majority was required.
Old Article 9 (The President And Honorary Vice Presidents), proposed Article 11.
11.2 - The Executive (and the executive alone) may recommend to an Annual General Meeting that a position of honorary officer or honorary membership of the Union for life be bestowed on any person, whether such a person is a fully paid up member of the Union or not.
Old Article 10 (Accounts), proposed Article 12.
No change
Old Article 11 (Discipline), proposed Article 13.
13 Add in clause - The Executive Committee may discipline by means of a fine or other suitable penalty and/or suspend from membership of the Union any individual member who, contravenes any of these rules or any bye laws made by the Executive Committee, or who in the opinion of the Executive, is guilty of unacceptable behaviour or has brought the union into disrepute. In exercising these and other functions, the Executive shall ensure that the requirements of natural justice are observed, before exercising its powers.
Old Article 12 (Discipline), proposed Article 14.
14 Notices required to be given under this constitution may be given in any of the following ways
- By handing it to the intended recipient.
- By posting it to the postal address recorded in the ICU membership list.
- By delivering it by hand to the postal address recorded in the ICU membership list.
- By sending it through e-mail to the e-mail address recorded in the ICU membership list
- By publishing it on the Irish Chess Union web-site.
Old Article 13 (Indemnity), proposed Article 15.
Replace 8.6 with 10.5
Old Article 14 (Amendment Of International Eligibility Criteria), proposed Article 16.
No change
Old Article 15 (Alteration Of Constitution), proposed Article 17.
No change
The proposed changes to the Constitution, including the amendments voted on at the meeting were accepted by the meeting, with 30 for and 4 against.
The Chairman thanked the members for attending and closed the meeting.
The above minutes can be downloaded as a word document for printing.