11 Sept

Speakeasy Toastmasters Mallow

Terrific first meeting of 2003/2004

The incoming president Pat Duggan opened the meeting with a very warm welcome to all members and especially all of the many visitors including those from the newly formed Macroom club. He also wished Jeremiah Ronayne all the very best of luck for the coming year in his new role as Area Governor. Toastmaster Eileen Corkery took us all through the programme for the evening, introducing some very fine speeches. Michael Cronin was the first speaker of the night with a short speech entitled ‘Back to the Good Times’ in which he ‘toasted’ the club itself and asked ‘what brings us all back for more’ to Speakeasy Toastmasters each year? The answer was summed up by Michael as ‘learning, laughter and lasting friendships’. Michael’s speech was evaluated by Dermot Meaney. Next up was John Murphy who spoke about the short stay he had recently in Dublin where as his speech title indicated ‘I walked among people but was invisible’. He described how he commuted by bus and train and on foot and realised that the other commuters on his route took no notice of anyone including himself. They were tuned into their own choice of media via the earpieces he noticed in virtually every ear. He described how glad he was to get back to Mallow where he would be frequently stopped for a word or two about the latest match or some other topic as he walked from A to B, and he realised he was happy to be no longer invisible. John’s speech was evaluated by William Healy. The third speech of the evening came from Michael Walsh with a highly entertaining speech about his schooldays at the ‘Partition Academy’ entitled ‘Back to School’. We heard some classic excuses about why he didn’t have his speech with him – including having brought the wrong copy! Michael described how he enjoyed his first day but on the second day had a new experience – he didn’t want to go. It was a hilarious account of his days in both primary and secondary school. He really enjoyed his schooldays but only now realises it! Kay Quirke had the pleasure of evaluating Michael’s speech. On a more serious note we heard from Tony O Regan who spoke about the importance of implementing high yielding farm methods in order to meet the demands of the projected worldwide population explosion. With a speech entitled ‘The mud on your shoes’ Tony lead us through some very surprising statistics including the fact that the worldwide population is increasing by 80-85 million consumers/year ‘i.e. another Mexico every year’ and will peak at 8 or 9 billion people by 2050. This means an extra 3 billion people to be fed and a doubling of food demand as a result. He concludes that high yielding efficient farming practises rather than low yielding organic methods are essential in order to meet increased food demand while leaving room for essential wildlife habitats. Tony’s speech was evaluated by Claire O’ Keefe. Our final speaker of the evening was the new Area Governor Jeremiah Ronayne who presented the immediate past president Pat Sexton with the ‘President’s Distinguished Club’ award. With a short speech entitled ‘Here’s to your success’ from the Special Occasions manual, Jeremiah explained that Speakeasy Toastmasters had won this award having achieved 10 out of 10 goals last year and were one of only 10 clubs in our district to do so. He commended Pat Sexton on his contributions to the club from it’s beginnings and especially as president to the club in it’s 10th year. Margaret O’ Regan evaluated Jeremiah’s presentation. The speeches were followed by a very entertaining Topics section which was conducted by John Stack. Topics ranged from summer activities to penalty points, new farming proposals, the smoking ban and legalisation of cannabis. The topics initiated lively discussions as usual with plenty of contributions from members and guests. With such a terrific start to the year, Speakeasy Toastmasters club is looking forward to their second meeting on Thursday, 18th September, during which night the club Table Topics competition will be held. As usual, guests are very welcome to attend club meetings. If you would like to know more about Speakeasy Toastmasters you can ring 022 51071 or 022 22755 for information.