Home	Events	News	Community	Sports	Competitions	About Us	History
News 2011 Carrigaline Macra November PRO Report: The Macra rally was held at the Radisson blu hotel in Cork on the October bank holiday weekend last. It proved to be a great success for the hosts Seandun which our club Carrigaline is proud to be part of with around 4000 people attending the events and entertainment over the course of the weekend which was laid on for the event. The sponsors Dairygold Quality Feeds were delighted with the success of the event. The event kicked off on Friday night with a fancy dress and take me out just like on the television, around 800 people turned out in various fabulous costumes and a great effort was made by all to dress up for the theme ‘I can’t believe you wore that’. The take me out was great fun as well with a several lucky men getting dates, this was followed by a band and DJ where everyone mingled and danced the night away. On Saturday there was a trip to Ballymaloe in East Cork where a cookery demonstration took place and proved to be well worth it. On Sat night around 1500 people showed up for the band Deuces Wild followed by DJ to mingle and dance the night away. On Sunday a trip to Kinsale was organised where we went to taste the jazz again this proved to be well worth the visit. The beef stock judging finals also took place where club members Robert Bouse and John Bryan competed. Back at the hotel a banquet was held and over 400 turned out for the dinner and a lot of people came in afterwards for the band Bog the donkey followed by a DJ to close the rally. All the hard work and effort made by the organisers and volunteers paid dividends as it turned out to be one of the most successful rallies ever. The finals of the Queen of the land which is macra’s version of the Rose of Tralee was held in Tullamore on the weekend of the 11-13^th November and 15 of us from the club went up to support club member Zoe Coghlan who was unlucky to finish outside the top 3 in the competition. However Zoe and the rest of us had a very enjoyable weekend and it was a great achievement for her getting to the finals as she had to come through 2 tough rounds. Carrigaline have been busy competing in competitions recently. Club member Niall Nicholson finished runners up in the Seandun round of the Impromptu public speaking competition, while our novice debating team consisting of Ollie Cronin, Catriona O Connell, Margaret Coleman and Colin Ross were unlucky to be beaten by Donoghmore in the 2^nd round of the competition. The clubs men’s indoor soccer team had more success however by defeating Whitechurch B and Glanmire and losing to Kinsale in Whitechurch sports hall recently but our two wins are good enough to put us through to the quarter finals of the region which will take place in the next few weeks. Finally we had a club night out on Friday night last. There was a good gang of us went ice skating in Mahon Point and we went to Douglas for drinks afterwards where we met members of Knockraha club, we all enjoyed the night immensely. The club is organising a New Years Eve dinner dance and it will take place at the Cork International Airport hotel on Saturday 31^st December next and the cost is 35 Euros per person which includes a drinks reception, four course dinner followed by the band ‘Millennium’ proceeded by a DJ till late and all are welcome. The club are always inviting new members to join and anyone who is interested can contact Ollie Cronin 0868974388, Patrick O Sullivan 0879847328, Niall Nicholson 0877529027 or Catriona O Connell 0872988296. Carrigaline Macra Na Feirme PRO Report October 2011 Carrigaline Macra members had been busy the last few weeks attending social events laid on by both the club and Seandun. On Friday Oct 7^th last the club went night time kayaking in Skibbereen. Members headed down to the Russagh mills Adventure centre in Skibbereen where we were kitted out in our wet gear and taken to a nearby lake for 2 hours of kayaking which was thoroughly enjoyed by all. Last Friday night Seandun Macra organised a regional night out where we went to the Nightmare Realm. People were scared out of their wits in this horror chamber, we then went onto the Bailey bar afterwards to sooth our nerves and socialise with rest of Cork County Macra. The following night Kerry Macra organised a fantastic barn dance in Kilmoyley near Tralee and a bus was organised to take Seandun club members down for what turned out to be a great night of craic. Around 400 people attended the event and Freemount Macra were the other club from Cork that went down. Seandun Beef stockjudging held recently which includes Robert Bouse over 23's and John Bryan u23 who both won there category and are members of Carrigaline club. Macravision was held in Co. Limerick recently and well done to Carrigaline member Laura Buckley came runners up in the solo singing competition. The club participated in the first round of the novice debating competition recently and the team represented by Catriona O Connell, Ollie Cronin and Margaret Coleman defeated Ballyhoura to go into the next round which will be held in Watergrasshill on Sunday Oct 24^th. The Seandun round of the Beef Stockjudging competition took place recently and well done to Carrigaline members Robert Bouse and John Bryan on winning the over 23’s and under 23’s of the competition respectively and will go on to compete in the national finals which will be held on the weekend of the Rally in Corrin Mart Fermoy. On Friday 28-31st October next Seandun Macra region which the Carrigaline club is proudly part of are organising The Rally which is Macra National Conference and is Macra’s biggest event of the year. This will take place in the Radisson Blu Hotel, Little Island in Cork on the bank holiday weekend. The event is kindly sponsored by Dairygold. It promises to be a great weekend with over 4000 people expected to attend. The event starts on Friday night with a Take Me Out just like the T.V show and a fancy dress competition. The theme for fancy dress is “I can’t believe you wore that” followed by The Glitter Bugs band and DJ. The AIB club finals will be held on the Saturday night followed by Deuces Wild band and DJ and the Seandun Rally fair and a trip to Ballymaloe House will be held on the Saturday afternoon. The Bord Bia Sheep and Stockjudging Finals and the Seandun County challenge will be held on the Sunday and a Gala banquet will be held Sunday evening followed by Bog the Donkey and DJ to complete the event. All people whether they are Macra members or non members are very welcome to join us. Carrigaline Macra is always recruiting new members and anyone who is interested in joining can contact Patrick 0879847328 or Catriona 0872988296. People can also come along to the clubs weekly sports held every Thursday night in Riverstick Community Hall at 9pm. Club Officer training was held at Johnstown House in Enfield Co Meath last weekend. The four officers of the club joined officers from other clubs around the country in what turned out to be a very enjoyable weekend in a luxurious hotel. The training started at 10am on Saturday morning and went on till 5pm where we got acquainted with fellow officers from other clubs. A banquet was held in the hotel that evening where 260 officers plus extras came together for the start of a night of fun and craic. After dinner All Ireland capers winners Limerick City Macra put on their winning show which everyone enjoyed immensely. This was followed by a DJ and people danced and mingled the night away. County officer training was held at the Newpark hotel in Kilkenny on the 3rd and 4th of September where our own club member Donal Sweeney received a gold leadership award proudly sponsored by Bank of Ireland for his tremendous role as chairman of the Seandun region. Our 7 aside football team recently played in the Seandun round of the competition but were unlucky to fall short to the winners Kinsale. Seandun recently held a very successful new members bowling night at the Planet in Blackpool where over eighty people attended. There was a fantastic turn out from all the clubs in the region, it turned out to be a great night and was enjoyed by everyone. Some people ended up in Bob Foxes pub in town afterwards. The club has a lot of events planned for the coming months ahead. On Friday 7th October at 7.30pm next we are going night time kayaking at Russagh mills in Skibbereen followed by checking out the social venues in the town. The cost is 35 Euros per person and includes the cost of the kayaking and accommodation. The finals of the Queen of the land will be held in Tullamore on the weekend of the 12/13 November and best of luck to Zoe Coughlan who will be representing the club in the competition. On New Year’s Eve next the club will be having our annual dinner dance at the Cork airport International hotel. The club traditionally held its dinner dance on this date in the past and it was decided to start doing this again as it was a great success. The club organises a very successful weekly sports night every Thursday 9-10pm at Riverstick Community hall. We play a variety of sport such as uni-hoc, indoor soccer, basketball and lots more. New members are very welcome to join us. Finally Macra's biggest event of the year is the National Conference and everyone in Seandun region is delighted to be the host County. It is better known to Macra members as “The Rally” which is kindly sponsored by Dairygold quality feeds and is being held at the Radisson blu hotel in Little Island, Cork on the October bank holiday weekend Fri 28^th to Sun 30^th October. Over the course of the weekend there will be over 3000 people travelling far and near to be with us in Seandun. This promises to be a fantastic event and is been hosted by the Seandun region which our club is proudly part of. The rally committee have done a fabulous job in organising a fun packed weekend with lots of different events laid on for the 3 days followed by a band and DJ every night. For more details check out macrarally2011.com The Carrigaline branch is always looking for new members. Macra is a voluntary organisation for young people between ages 17 and 35. We have six key areas of activity such as Sport, Travel, Agriculture, Public Speaking, Performing Arts and Community Involvement. If anyone is interested in joining or looking for more information on upcoming club events please contact Patrick 0879847328 or Catriona 0872988296. Our check out Macra.ie or Carrigaline Macra face book page. __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Carrigaline Macra Na Feirme 52^nd Annual General Meeting Aug 2011 Seated are the 2011 committee (L-R) Patrick O’Sullivan - PRO, Catriona O’Connell – Treasurer, Tim Lombard - Presiding Officer, Alan Jagoe- Macra National President, Niall Nicholson – Secretary and Ollie Cronin – Chair with the large crowd at the meeting. Carrigaline Macra held their club 52nd Annual General Meeting on last Tuesday the 9^th of August in the stables bar in Carrigaline, the room was full to the brim with 40 people in attendance. Club chairman Ollie Cronin opened the meeting and welcomed Cork County Mayor Mr Tim Lombard who is also a member of the club as presiding officer; he also welcomed National Macra President Alan Jagoe to his own clubs AGM. After the crowd observed a minutes silence for members who have passed away the meeting began and Secretary Niall Nicholson read out the minutes from the 2010 AGM. Edel Collins the Outgoing Treasurer presented a fantastic and well documented report for the club and she was thanked for her work over the last two years. John Aherne then gave a PRO report and said the club participated in a lot of events for the year, with bowling, tag rugby blitz and the many competitions the club did as well as attending many dinner dances that were on. The Clubs IT Report took place and a new Club Website was launched on the night, and members were very happy to see a new informative website that was well laid out. It’s now online to be seen at www.carrigalinemacra.com Niall Nicholson gave the Secretary’s report and mentioned that his highlight for the year was the Christmas carol singing in the nursing home, the club mystery tour and going to the national presidential hustling with club member Alan Jagoe. He thanked the 2010 committee for all their help throughout his 1^st term as secretary and said “I look forward to the 2011 elections, Mar anseo i Carraig Uí Leighin Macra Na Feirme, Is féidir linn!” Ollie Cronin then gave the Chairs address and said he was delighted to see the Alan Jagoe as national President, Zoe Coughlan going forward for Queen of the Land and It is great to see that there are over 60 members now in the club the highest it has been in decades with 29 new members this year and with the Seandun Rally coming up it will be brilliant for the club for retention and recruitment of members. He thanked club officers and also Donal Crowley for producing the capers and drama shows. The Club then went onto electing its officers after hearing a brilliant rally report from Michelle O’Callaghan. The position of President and chair went to votes between the club and the following are the officers of Carrigaline Macra for 2011-2012 are as follows: President – Philip Whitley Chair – Ollie Cronin Secretary – Niall Nicholson Treasurer – Catriona O’ Connell PRO – Patrick O’ Sullivan Vice Chair – John Aherne Assistant Secretary – James Daunt Assistant Treasurer – Margret Coleman Assistant PRO – Dan Twomey The 2011 officers then took their seats and Ollie Cronin told the members there is a trip arranged to Timoleague Festival to see Aslan on Sat 20^th August, a bus is being arranged and the price is €30 for admission and transport, All are welcome! If you would like to Join Carrigaline Macra Contact our Secretary Niall Nicholson on 0877529027 or visit www.carrigalinemacra.com. __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ New Cork County Mayor Cllr Tim Lombard Jun 2011 Congratulations to club member Tim Lombard on being elected the County Mayor of Cork. Well done and best wishes from the club! _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ CLUB MEMBER ALAN JAGOE BECOMES NATIONAL MACRA PRESIDENT May 2011 Well done To Alan Jagoe our own club member who won the presidential race for Macra National President 2011. After his long campaign he finally became the official president of macra na feirme on the 7^th of may 2011 up at the national AGM which was held in Cavan. The club wish Alan the best of luck for his term and are looking forward to having him as an ambassador for a great club such as carrigaline! WELL DONE ALAN! ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ANNUAL CLUB DINNER DANCE & CELEBRATORY NIGHT FOR ALAN JAGOE 15^th April 2011 Following Alan Jagoes win as National Macra President the club decided to twin their annual dinner dance with a celebratory night for him. It was a brilliant successful night with over 160 people in attendance at the carrigaline court hotel for a five course meal, Tickets were a super value of €30 each and the crowds flocked to the dance floor with DJ Donal Crowley on the decks. Minister for Agriculture, Marine & Fisheries Simon Coveney was the Guest Speaker on the night and a Great Night was Had by all! _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ POLITICAL LOBBY MEETING 11^TH Nov 2010 Carrigaline Macra met with local T.D’s for a Pre Budget Lobby Meeting we had six of the seven Cork south central T.D’s in attendance on the night, Being Simon Coveney, Ciaran Lynch, Deirde Clune, Micheal Mc Grath, Dan Boyle and Jerry Buttimer. It was a Very informative night for those present who lobbied the T.D’s for important issues such as agriculture, education and health. We got a very good responce from the T.D’s and they brought our issues to the Dail and have since solved some of the Installation Aid issues that were outstanding for some Macra members. _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________