A belated Happy Easter to all our members!
Notice is given in this newsletter of the Annual General Meeting of the Modern Railway Society of Ireland on Wednesday 18th April 2018.
There is also news of a trip to Drogheda Train Care Depot and the preservation of the 80 class DEMU.
Annual General Meeting
Notice is given of the Annual General Meeting of the Modern Railway Society of Ireland, to be held at 7.15 pm on Wednesday 18th April 2018 in Ashfield Girls’ High School, Holywood Road, Belfast.
Agenda
- Apologies
- Minutes of Annual General Meeting on 19th April 2017, 20th September 2017 and 18th October 2017
- Matters arising from previous minutes
- Chairman’s Report
- Accounts and Treasurer’s Report
- Matters arising from reports
- Constitutional Amendments
- General Data Protection Regulations
- 80 class preservation
- Election of Officers and Committee members
- Election of Honorary Auditor
- Any other business
After the Annual General Meeting, Matthew Wilson will give a presentation entitled Britain, Ireland and France in the 2010s
Minutes of Annual General Meeting 2017
Minutes of the three meetings over which the 2017 AGM took place are enclosed with this newsletter. A small number of print copies will be available at the AGM, but members are asked if possible to bring their own copies in order that the minutes can be taken as read before adoption.
Constitutional Amendments
The Committee has proposed the following two motions:
- That section 5.2 of the Constitution be amended to read as follows:-
The Treasurer shall keep accounts of all monies received or expended by MRSI and a complete financial statement with a report by an independent auditor shall be submitted at each Annual General Meeting. The financial year shall be from 1st March each year to 28th February the following year.
- That section 6.8 of the Constitution be amended to read as follows:-
A quorum at any General Meeting shall be the lower of fifteen or half the voting membership.
A simple majority of those voting will be sufficient to decide these motions to amend the Society’s Constitution.
General Data Protection Regulation
The Committee has agreed the following Privacy Statement drafted by our Secretary. Members will be given a copy of this on the annual membership renewal form, and the Committee will write to the Life Members separately.
The Modern Railway Society of Ireland only uses the information you provide to us for legitimate interest as defined by the Information Commissioner’s Office.
We do not disclose the information we hold about you to third parties without your permission or unless lawfully required to do so. Access to your information is restricted to those members of the Committee who need it to carry out their roles. This will include the Secretary and the Treasurer.
The Committee of the Society may use your information to contact you concerning the business of the Society, including forthcoming events, membership matters, and notice of Annual and Extraordinary General Meetings.
By providing your email address, you agree that we can contact you via email in preference to post.
We delete your contact information one year after your membership expires, however we retain details of your name and membership number indefinitely in case you should rejoin in the future.
By submitting this membership form with payment, you agree to us using your information in this way.
Elections procedure
In accordance with the Constitution of the Society, one of the officers of the Society retires each year by rotation, and this year the Secretary’s post falls vacant.
Our Chairman David Carson will continue in office until the 2019 AGM, and our Treasurer Roy Thompson will continue in office until the 2020 AGM.
We therefore invite nominations as follows:-
- to the post of Treasurer for a three year term, retiring in 2020, and
- for up to three ordinary Committee Members, to serve for one year.
Our present Secretary Andy Boal has indicated that he wishes to retire as Secretary this year due to pressures outside the society. He is willing to be nominated as an ordinary Committee Member.
Nominations should be forwarded to Andy Boal, 1 Reid Street, BELFAST BT6 8PE, or via email to society@modernrsi.org stating:
- The name of the person you are nominating
- Your own name
- A seconder
- Confirmation that the nominee has agreed to be nominated
Nominations must be received no later than Sunday 15th April 2018.
Eligibility to vote
Only members who have paid their annual subscription for 2017-18 and life members will be eligible to vote in the election.
80 class preservation
We were delighted to hear a few weeks ago that NIR has now released the 80 class DEMU for preservation. Members will recall that the Society voted to donate £3,000 towards the transportation of 450 class DEMU 458 to Downpatrick, and a further £7,000 towards the transportation of the 80 class.
Withdrawn driving trailer 749 and power car 69, being in the best physical condition, have been selected for repainting into original livery. This is currently being carried out by NIR at DCDR’s expense, and they have launched an appeal to cover the cost of the repaint and the difference between our donation and the actual cost of transporting the 4 vehicles (69, 90, 749 and 752) to Downpatrick.
For more information about the appeal, see http://www.downrail.co.uk/donate/dcdr80class/
If you receive a hard copy of this newsletter, their fundraising leaflet has been enclosed. Hard copies will be available at our meetings, and a PDF will be sent to mail recipients as soon as we have a copy.
Drogheda Train Care Depot
We are pleased to announce a visit to Drogheda Train Care Depot on Wednesday 20th June at 10.45am. Because we will have to wait for a connecting train in Dundalk, we have also arranged a visit to Dundalk Railway Museum and Dundalk Central Signal Cabin while we wait.
The itinerary will be as follows:-
Belfast Central dep 08:00
Dundalk arr 09:15
Dundalk dep 10:10
Drogheda arr 10:33
Return will be by the train of your choice – members without Smartpasses are reminded that cash fares to Drogheda may be cheaper than web fares to Dublin and aren’t tied to particular trains!
Numbers are strictly limited to fifteen, so it will be necessary to restrict attendance to society members only on a first come first served basis. Robust non-slip footwear will be required, but safety footwear would be preferred.
As ever, please contact Andy Boal to book your place.
Senior Travel Pass Group
The next few outings will be on Wednesdays 25th April, 23rd May and 27th June. Details will be announced closer to the time.
Contact: To add your name to the mailing list, please use our contact form and we will pass your details on.
2018/19 Programme
Wednesday 19th September – Chris Playfair
Wednesday 17th October – Chris Conway and Richard Knox
Wednesday 21st November
Wednesday 16th January – Michael McMahon
Wednesday 20th February
Wednesday 20th March
We will confirm the date of the 2019 AGM closer to the time. Because Easter will be late in 2019, we may bring it forward by a week as the RPSI do not usually meet in April.
