NEWS FOR "APRIL" FROM THE IRISH FEDERATION OF PIKE ANGLING CLUBS


ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

The Federation's Annual General Meeting was held in the Greville Arms Hotel, Mullingar on Sunday 2nd March. 62 delegates from 37 clubs attended.

The meeting was informed of the all matters dealt with by the committee over the past year. These included our submission to the pike review group, the forthcoming review of the fisheries boards, the introduction of the coarse fishing permit on the Shannon system, Recreational Angling Ireland, European Anglers Alliance issues and Insurance for our members.

The Chairman in his address commended the committee for their dedication and hard work over the year. The volume of work is increasing yearly with a large range of issues needing attention almost on a daily basis. A lot of meetings were attended, some during normal working hours, and as a consequence some people had to take time off work without recompense. The question will have to be addressed in the near future whether the federation can continue to be administered on a voluntary basis.

Grateful appreciation was expressed to our sponsors, Kingspan for their continued generous support of the National Pike Championship and to Pure Fishing for their sponsorship of the junior pike championship.

The Treasurer reported that the finances of the federation were in a fairly healthy state however he cautioned that the costs of administration were continuing to increase yearly and we must make allowances for that.

Just prior to the AGM an EGM was held to create two new positions on the committee that of Youth Officer and Environmental Officer. These new positions were deemed necessary because the two issues of declining water quality and diminishing numbers taking up angling need to be addressed urgently and required specific attention.

The committee for the coming year is as follows:
Chairman: John Chambers
Vice-Chairman: Pat Sheenan
Secretary: John Crudden
Asst Secretary: Marty Lawlor
Treasurer: Terry Sheridan
Asst Treasurer: John Boyle
PRO: Ray Bergin
Competitions Officer: Ibar Condron
Youth Officer: Finbar Meehan
Environment Officer: David Hamill
Ordinary members: John McMullan, Jimmy Thompson, Paul Hamill, Aiden McKenna.

Motions for debate:

1. The federation will adopt a policy which allows public criticism of any activity or proposed activity which is contrary to the preservation and conservation of pike. The motion was passed.

2. That the Irish Federation of Pike Angling Clubs promotes and supports the establishment of regional or provincial councils of the federation. A lengthy debate took place on this motion and the meeting agreed an amendment that the incoming committee seek the views of all affiliated clubs and report back to the next AGM.

3. That the IFPAC support the introduction of a complete ban on the killing of pike on Lough Key for a five year period. The motion was passed.

4. A motion that proposed to revert to the original February date for the holding of the Kingspan National Pike Championship Final was withdrawn.

5. All mobile phones to be switched off at federation meetings. The motion was passed.

6. That the incoming committee examine the feasibility of presenting prize vouchers to the top 10 anglers at the final of the Kingspan National Pike Championships.

The affiliation fee for the coming year was set at €60

COARSE PERMIT IN THE SHANNON REGION
The ongoing campaign to reverse the introduction of this permit continues apace. The matter was raised at the AGM again this year and a plan of campaign outlined. Newspapers articles especially from papers circulating in the affected areas have all come out against its introduction. The national papers will be now be targeted to get the message across and all T.D's. and Senators will be lobbied with a detailed statement asking them to support the campaign. We must re-iterate again that we are not against the introduction of a permit provided that the permit guarantees the same fishing rights to all anglers across all angling disciplines.

INSURANCE
We must remind all angling clubs that the Club and Personal Accident policies fall due for renewal on 18th March. The Club premium for the year is €4 per member. Last year the premium was increased by 240%. This was not passed on to the members but was taken out of the reserve fund which is now depleted and must be brought back to its previous level. The Personal Accident premium remains at €2 per member. We must advise all clubs that they take out both insurance policies to cover both the club and the members before undertaking any activity such as competition, meetings, maintainance works etc. For a public liability claim against the club to succeed the person making the claim must prove negligence on the part of the club which can sometimes be difficult. Consequently it is advised that members should be covered by a personal accident policy. From next year it will be mandatory for all clubs to hold personal accident and club insurance policies in order to become affiliated.

KINGSPAN NATIONAL PIKE CHAMPIONSHIP
The final of the Kingspan National Pike Championship will be held on Saturday 12th April in the West of Ireland. The competitors will be based in the Cloonabinna House Hotel, Moycullen, Co Galway. Full report next month. The first heat of the 2003-04 competition will be held on the Grand Canal at Cloghan, Co Offaly on Sunday 27th April not on the River Erkina as previously advertised. The check-in is in the Cloghan Inn.





April 2003

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