The future of Seanad Éireann came in for some robust discussion at the Speakeasy Toastmasters meeting last week. In fact, the debate went back to the carry on in this eminent chamber some 70 years ago which caused quite a few feathers to be ruffled in Thursday night’s audience. A few other people suffered the wrath of some of the members during what was a hearty topics session led by Marie Lyons. Such people as Bob Geldof and Tony Blair got dishonourable mention. But, as General Evaluator, Margaret O’Regan put it, a number of people managed to get some baggage off their chest on the night and must have gone home feeling somewhat relieved.
On the night, the speeches were the real entertainment. Bill Martin gave the audience a loving account of how baby Fionn was born at home. But, the real twist to the story was what happened to the cat. Anne Walsh in her speech clearly demonstrated the importance of “slow down, you move too fast”, when speaking of road safety. The lyrics of this famous song added poignancy to her tale of a young boy who was knocked down in a serious car accident a number of years ago. James Kelleher, in his speech, took on the thorny subject of man flu, or in his words, “masculine influenza”. A topic, which didn’t get an excessive lot of sympathy from the female half of the house. However, according to James, this is a serious illness that can affect the male of the species and must be treated with TLC. With the next meeting being the humorous speech contest night, Liam Flynn’s educational session was timely, he spoke of the key elements in delivering a good speech. They are; body language, confidence, hand gestures, voice and above all, eye contact. Good advice from Liam for anyone competing in two weeks’ time. Helsa Giles delivered the most pain free beheading that was ever seen at a toastmasters meeting when she spoke of the swordsman who swiftly removed the head of Ann Boleyn. Helsa’s speech was an interesting historic account of the ill-fated Ann and her sister Mary. Cáit Murray was toastmaster for the evening and Cáit in her relaxed and good humoured way ensured the proceeding's were run. The next Speakeasy meeting is 3rd October and promises to be particularly lively as it is the club’s humorous speech and table topics contests. The meeting commences at 8pm in the Hibernian Hotel. Guests are most welcome.
President; Noel O'Connor
Secretary; Ray Ryan
Educational Vice President; Cáit Murray
Treasurer; Marie Lynes
Vice President Membership; Angela Sheehan
Immediate Past President;Jerry Mulcahy
Contact Noel 087 2427485 or Cáit on 087 2185178
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