Who shot Bambi?

Bambi, food fads and gossip!

" I shot Bambi", was the startling revelation made by Gordon Sharp-Bolster during the Topics Session at last week's Speakeasy Toastmasters meeting. Thankfully, before the animal lovers in the audience could react in horror, he clarified his comment by revealing that he used a camera, not a rifle. Nevertheless, he argued that deer culling was required to control the population and to reduce the spread of Lyme's Disease. Other contributors begged to differ but one solution offered ( in a tongue-in-cheek fashion) was the building of a Mexican Wall around County Wicklow to stop roaming deer and, perhaps, Shane Ross.

Table Topics encourages members to think "on their feet" and remain composed when speaking without a script or prior knowledge of a topic. It can be a wonderful source of ideas, information, insights and some good old fashioned balderdash! All these qualities were very much in evidence in a session that was ably conducted by Gillian Harris. The thorny subject of taking down Christmas decorations elicited responses that ranged from the efficient to the slovenly. Don McSweeney admitted thatChristmas decorations on display in June in his college flat lost their allure. Ann Nyhan discovered organisation and efficiency after years of chaos. No one admitted to leaving the tree out for recycling with the decorations still in place, unlike a certain unnamed English footballer.

Juicers and blenders we're seen as reflective of the food fads of millennials as Brendan Foley tried to auction off his vast quantities of protein supplements and amino acids. In the spirit of New Year do-goodery, gossip was described as something that should not be passed on. That is one resolution that is likely to be broken! By contrast, a question on the marketing of Ireland through various regions of interest like the Wild Atlantic Way and the Ancient East provoked many responses on a laudable marketing strategy.

A question on the subject of funeral notices on local radio was met with the wittiest comment of the night - "RIP.ie is Facebook for the over forties!" That is the beauty of an impromptu session - members get the opportunity to sound off and be creative and entertaining.

At the meeting's conclusion, the Best Topic ribbon was awarded to Gordon Sharp-Bolster. Gordon is a new member who brings an interesting and unusual slant to his contributions. His is but one of the many diverse voices that flourish in Speakeasy.

Don McSweeney, Maria Connolly, Deirdre Linehan & Brendan Foley; Speech Evaluators. 

In other news, club members would like to wish Ray Ryan every success in his new appointment in the Department of Foreign Affairs in Dublin.Ray has been a stalwart of the club since 2002, serving in many officer roles including President in 2008-2009. He also served as Area and Division Director. In recent years, he has curated our website and Facebook pages.Last year, he was the worthy recipient of The Jerry Mulcahy Award for his exceptional contribution to Speakeasy Toastmasters.

The next Speakeasy Toastmasters meeting takes place in the Hibernian Hotel Mallow on Thursday 24th January at 8.00PM. As always, guests are always welcome to come along and see for themselves what Toastmasters is about. Guests are never coercedinto speaking unless they wish to do so. For more information about our club, check out our websitespeakeasytoastmasters.com or on Facebook. Alternatively, please contact Sean Corcoran, Club President at 086-6054784.