Chair Report 2025
Good evening, everyone and welcome to the 2025 Annual General Meeting of the Feis Dhoire Cholmcille.
It is with great sadness that we all acknowledge the sudden loss of Christine McIvor. Christine served as a steady and trusted hand in managing our finances for many years. Her warmth and dedication will be deeply missed. Our heartfelt condolences have been extended to her husband Liam and their family.
May I ask the Secretary to confirm that we are quorate in accordance with our constitution. If clarification is needed regarding quorum requirements, I proposed this be addressed as a motion for approval.
May I ask for confirmation of the Minutes from the AGM held on 29 October 2024. If there are no objections, could I have a proposer and seconder please?
We are grateful to the teams at St Mary’s College, St Columb’s Hall and the Playhouse Theatre for their invaluable support leading up to and during both Holy week and Easter week to ensure that everything went as smoothly as it could.
It is also noted that without the enormous achievements of each of you, this year’s programmes in each discipline would not have come about without some quite astonishing efforts by you who work tirelessly in the background to make this happen. This year has been exceptional, with increased entries and attendance. We extend our sincere thanks to Eamon Sweeney for his outstanding work in promoting the Feis through social media and local press and we are pleased to say he has agreed to continue his role into 2026.
Can we also extend our greatest thanks to Genny Sweeney and James Kelly for their efforts in supporting the Feis before having to step down from their roles. We hope to see them in the future still supporting the Feis when they can.
At this point, I would hand over to the Treasurer to give an update on our financial position, but in light of Christine’s passing, I refer to the audited accounts received from our accountants previously circulated in advance of the AGM. I am delighted to confirm that we made a modest surplus this year which is attributed to changing the venue from the Millennium Forum to St Columb’s Hall; the increased number of entries across all disciplines and it was wonderful to see a comeback from dancers from both An Coimisi ú n and An Chomhdhailand
and Shauna’s great work in bringing them together. Are there any questions? If none, I will ask the Secretary to address this in the next part of the Agenda.
Looking ahead, we’ll continue to monitor our financial position and allocate resources effectively to meet both immediate needs and long-term goals including venue planning and programme development.
I now invite the Secretary to present the newly drafted governance documents aligned with the Northern Ireland Charity Commission guidance.
Thank you once again for giving up your evening to attend this year’s AGM.