Minutes of the Annual General Meeting of the Liverpool Irish Centre
Thursday 16th September 2021 at 7pm at 6 Boundary Lane Liverpool L6 5JG
A booklet showing and reporting on the activities offered by the Centre was available to all those in attendance.
Paul MacDonald was appointed teller.
A register was taken of members and those in attendance. Apologies were received from the Mr and Mrs Quinlan, and Mr and Mrs England.
1 Minutes of the AGM dated 28 April 2019
Approved
2 Report on the Accounts to the year end March (2020 and 2021)
Guy Playfer went through the main points arising from the accounts. The accounts can be filed subject to some changes to the trustees’ report. The cash position has stabilized and strengthened. Main features are the big drop in bar income because of Covid and a corresponding drop in wages; a large increase in grants; a small surplus in commercial activities as compared to the prior year’s loss. Overall the accounts position is quite positive and if high levels of activity in bar and shop are maintained the surplus should grow. Recent management accounts which show a reasonable surplus reflect that also.
3 Treasurer’s report
Tony Grimes reiterated the positive report from Guy and explained the interaction between the trading and funding accounts. The Chair thanked Guy who left the meeting.
4 Election of new trustees to the committee
A vote was taken and votes were counted by the Teller. Kathryn Dickinson, Eamon Sexton Maureen Royce, Kevin Brennan and Ronan Macgabhan were elected to the Committee. Patrick Gaul was elected to remain on the Committee. Paul Kangley objected that he had not received Notice but it was explained that the Notice inviting applications had been posted on the website and notice board and had been referred to in the weekly email to those on the email list.
5 Report of the Chair on the activities of the Liverpool Irish Centre 2019-2020.
The Chair had posted a written statement on line and gave a brief resume of what has been going on at the LIC since the last AGM which was nearly two and a half years ago.
The Chair reported on the audit by the Irish Embassy which involved a rigorous
examination of all aspects of governance and accounting which was passed with a clean bill of health. After the audit a decision was made that we would not apply again for any contribution to funding the post that Niall Gibney, now holds.
The Chair reported on the departure of Richie Billing in March in 2020 and thanked him for his great contribution. The Chair reported on the Centre being registered as a CIO(Charitable Incorporated Organisation) in June 2020, although the transfer of assets and liabilities has not yet taken place – mainly the lease and the bank accounts.
During lockdown the committee kept meeting, every month on Zoom and the shop remained open and online activities became a part of our lives. The Chair paid tribute and gave thanks to the staff who kept the Centre going. They could have gone on furlough. We could have shut up shop. We didn’t and the place remained open and people clearly appreciated that. The Chair thanked all who contributed, especially Maureen Morrison for keeping the shop going and Nora Peake for her on-line lessons in all manner of things.
In July the Centre opened again; during the time off we had been making improvements to the premises, painting and decorating and cleaning and in July we started on the garden project. Our usual classes and activities have over the previous 18 months been seriously curtailed but we have kept the Centre going and tried to improve in lots of areas, our shop, our social media, our fund raising. We sent several hampers and cards to members and started a membership scheme which produced an enthusiastic response and a decent sum of money.
The Chair reported on the results of a survey and the offered of a new lease by the Archdiocese – the old one expired in July and we are holding over on the same terms - and the matter is in the hands of the lawyers at the moment. The Chair reported that the top priorities were as follows: natural light; shop and a café; toilets; and explained the draft plan put together by Maggie Mullan, architect.
With regard to the new lease according to the Constitution of the LIC the trustees probably have power to enter into a lease but nevertheless this proposal was put to a show of hands and approved. Pat Lynch commented that the Archdiocese may be slow to complete the lease based on past experience and that must be the priority and the changes to the premises can wait till after we have security of tenure.
The Chair concluded his report saying that there has never been so much interest in what is going on at the Centre partly because we are doing new things and attracting new people and because of the large number of events and concerts at the weekend, Sunday having been revived for example; and in part because of the growing on-line presence and activity.
Finally with regard to finance, the Chair reported that in the last twenty two years we have not used an overdraft and we have not taken out any loan and our financial position at the moment is as good as it has ever been. We have the basis fora very bright and exciting future here which will be of great benefit to our members, and the Irish community and we will come to be regarded as the best community Centre in the city.
The business plan
The Chair reported on the main items in the business plan which had been informed by the survey and meetings of staff and trustees.
Film
Niall Gibney presented a film showing the events and activities at the Centre over the previous twelve months.
The meeting closed with a remembrance of those who had died since the last AGM. Refreshments were taken.
Comments