In my role as chairperson:

• I chaired 10 committee meetings
• was asked to present prizes at Bunratty, the Irish Junior Championships in Shannon, and the Irish Championships in Limerick.
• met Foroige development officer, Denis O'Brien, for discussions on joint cooperation and child protection issues.
• Accompanied the Glorney teams when they visited President Higgins at the Aras an Uachtarain in July.
• Attended a seminar run by the National Sports Council on the changes in child protection legislation, and it's effects on clubs and organizations.
• Found sponsorship of €1000 for the Bunratty Classic
• Handled an access request under the data protection act

The cheating incident in Cork consumed a lot of our time and energy in the latter part of the year. It attracted huge media attention. Within 5 days the executive had met, and following our process as defined in our code of conduct, two disciplinary sub-committees were established to investigate the allegations and to establish if any incident of misconduct has taken place, and to notify the member of any sanction being imposed. As one of the sub-committees has not completed its work, I will not comment further.

Going forward, it has become clear to me that we, as an organization, need two people dedicated to
a) Seeking corporate sponsorship, and
b) Seeking Government Funding
These roles are currently spread between the chairperson, treasurer and development officer. However, each of those officers already has much wider responsibilities. These new roles should not be executive positions, as the executive is already very large. I will be asking the incoming committee to find people with suitable skills. Volunteers are welcome to apply.

Due to changes in the child protection laws, the executive will be creating a non-executive child protection officer. This person will not be doing Garda vetting, but will ensure that the ICU are compliant to the legislation, and will also act as a point of contact for anybody with concerns about child protection issues in the chess world.

I would like to thank all my fellow executive officers, provincial delegates, the members of the selections committee and those of the disciplinary sub-committees for their work during the year. I would also like to thank the many members who have given me advice and support during the year.

Finally, this will be my last year as chairperson. I will not be standing for office in 2014/15.