Where did the year go?  The phrase “time flies when you’re having fun” comes to mind as outgoing President Marie Lynes jovially opened the meeting by welcoming members and guests alike. She handed control of the meeting to Michael Cronin who donned the hat of Toastmaster for the evening. He ably glides through the various rigmarole’s.

     Ronan Condon was first up with a speech entitled “Technology Trends, a really well structured speech that looked into interesting ideas about how we interact on a daily basis with new technology, it was so evident that this was a subject that Ronan had a great deal of knowledge about. Well done on completing your 10th Speech in the Competent communication Manual, a great achievement.

     Brendan Foley was next up with a speech called “Still Standing” He gave us a very comprehensive explanation of the procedures of running your own business. Inspirational stuff, thanks Brendan.

       “DOB’s Army” was Deirdre Linehan’s nail biting tail, edge of your seat high impact march to victory. It was called DOB’s Army because they were Deirdre’s initials before she married and back then was a coach at a school. The highlight was when she got up on a chair like she did in the all-Ireland final and gave us her passionate locker room words of encouragement, a wonderful example of the effectiveness of hand gestures.

  Last but not least was Sean Corcoran who read a play “A Galway Girl”. He had the setting lovely as he had put a small table and a lamp on it, bringing us into the story straight away. Such a sad tale, brought so expertly alive by Sean. An important lesson to grasp every day and enjoy it.

 Tony O’Regan was very topical with a summer theme in his role of Topicsmaster, awarding Don Mc Sweeny best Topic for his response on holiday romances.

 We had a great year in Speakeasy but it was also twinged in sadness as the passing of a much loved and valued member Jerry Mulcahy. To remember him, we were delighted that his daughter Mary O’Sullivan could join us to present the Jerry Mulcahy trophy to Speakeasy Toastmaster of the year, Sean Corcoran. A deserved winner who does the I.T. in the club. Speaking of which to find out more about us go to www.speakeasytoastmasters.com or you can follow us on facebook or twitter.

 We won’t be back again until September the 8^th on alternate Thursdays 8p.m. sharp.  Please join us, Guests are always more than welcome and won’t be asked to speak.