The end of another school year beckons as we prepare for our Annual General Meeting on Wednesday, May 24^th in Tralee Co. Kerry. This year, the format is similar to last which was different to previous years. We will have Mass for our deceased members at 8.00am and following breakfast, registration will start 10.30am with the AGM starting at 11.30am. The afternoon session will include motions, reports and elections, with our Gala Dinner at 7.00pm. The social dimension will conclude on Thursday with a full day tour.

 

Talking about tours, I want to mention our very successful visit to Wexford in late March for our Spring Break. We stayed in the Wexford – Clayton Whites Hotel, which proved an excellent choice, with friendly staff, comfortable rooms and delicious food. Our first tour took us to New Ross and a visit to the Dunbrody Famine Ship which was a wonderful experience and a window into our historical past (see photo of us on board ship). In the afternoon we visited JohnstownCastle (Teagasc Research Centre) where some of us enjoyed a trip down memory lane as we toured the agricultural museum while others relaxed with a leisurely walk on the castle grounds.

 

The next day we visited FerrycarrigFolkPark and even though the weather was not very kind to us, we still enjoyed a very entertaining trip through our past. The afternoon was free for retail therapy or a walking tour of Wexford. The break was very enjoyable and I would recommend the South East as a worthwhile place to visit.

 

The RMA was represented at the TUI Annual Congress in Cork by Jim McCarthy and myself. This year we were delighted to see worthwhile debate and interest in Pension matters. Let me again confirm the RMA’s support for the restoration of the Common Basic Scale, the rejection of the concept of ‘career averaging’ as proposed and our support for the full restoration of pay to serving members and restoration of full pensions for our retired colleagues. We also campaign for the winding up of the

Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest (FEMPI) Act. I have no doubt these topics will be the cause of much discussion and debate at our AGM in the BrandonHotel.

During the Spring the RMA was represented at two TUI pre-retirement seminars. At such seminars precede actual retirement time, not all attendees know exactly when and if they will finish working. I am also conscious that some members may have overlooked attending or found it impossible to get to either event. All attendees received a membership application form, and forms can also be downloaded from www.rmatui.ie. Retiring members should note that most time at RMA meetings is devoted to issues of concern to them – home security and safety, wills, financial planning, leisure planning, health provision issues and so on, so it is in every retiring TUI member’s interest to join the RMA.

As this is the final issue of TUI News for this school year, may I wish everyone a lovely summer.

Dan Keane, RMA Secretary.