A Weekend of Contests

In early April Toastmaster Division Contests were held throughout Ireland. On Saturday April 5th, Bobby Buckley was a contestant in the Division M Speech Final in Dublin with his speech, Conclave and Me’. In spite of a fine performance, Bobby was edged out of the awards. First prize went to Aine Ni Ghlinn of Rathfarnham, who was a recent visitor to our club.

On Sunday April 6th the Division A Finals were held in Cork . It was an afternoon of friendship, rivalry and great speaking!..Pat Sexton competed in the Speech Evaluation Contest. Anne Lawlor from Tralee gave the ‘test speech’ and five contestants from different areas offered evaluations on it. Displaying his signature incisiveness and wit, Pat Sexton won First Place. Anthony Garvey of Tralee Toastmasters won the Speech Contest. Both Pat and Anthony will now go forward to the District 71 Irish and British Finals in Solihull in early May. We wish them the best of Luck!

Our next meeting is on this Thursday,April 17th. Why not come along and see what happens at a meeting? You’ll be glad you did!

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Speakeasy Meeting on April 3rd

 On April 3rd, Paul Corcoran, our Vice President Education, stepped up as

Toastmaster for the evening. He led the meeting with his usual professionalism and

attention to detail. He reminded us all of one of the core benefits of Toastmasters :

confidence—a quality he embodies fully. It comes as no surprise that Paul has been

appointed Area 17 Director for the coming year. Well deserved, Paul.

James McConville attended our meeting as a guest and shared a very moving

original poem of his; Salt in the Wound. His haunting images of the ravages of war

and ‘the wounds that will not heal’ left a lasting impression.

Pat Sexton delivered a heartfelt speech Johnny Cannot Read recounting a

classmate’s struggle with undiagnosed dyslexia. His story was both emotional and

thought-provoking. He questioned current funding priorities in education. ‘ Instead of

introducing universal benefits for pupils’, he asked ’should we target support where

the needs are greatest?’

We were delighted to welcome two guests from Tralee Toastmasters at this meeting.

One of these, Anne Lawlor delivered an inspiring speech entitled Carpe Diem. Citing

Robin Williams in Dead Poets Society she encouraged us all to ‘Seize the Day’ This

spirit of adventure earned her a scholarship to study in Sydney for a year and as a

teacher in a special school, it inspired her to abandon the schoolroom and take the

students to delight in the wonder of playing in the snow for a day!. Ann definitely lives

by her motto and leads by example.

Bobby Buckley revisited his insightful and humorous speech, Conclave and Me, about his visit to the film ,Conclave. This very impressive presentation demonstrated

how even seasoned speakers in Toastmasters can gain from evaluations and

positive recommendations. Bobby qualified for the Division M Final in Dublin with this

very entertaining speech.

Acting as Topicsmaster, Margaret O’Regan elicited very amusing replies to some

topics she posed ‘What is the nicest thing someone ever said about you?’

In her role as Grammarian, our guest, Áine Quinn from Tralee, challenged us to

include the word ‘rejuvenate’ in our contributions and offered a delightful summary of

the evening’s most vivid and expressive language.

We will do it all again on Thursday, April 17th and guests are always welcome.

Come along, observe, enjoy: and remember, there’s never any pressure to speak.

Speakeasytoastmasters.com

Top Table: Paul Corcoran as Toastmasters, Margaret O'Regan as Topics Master, Bobby Public as President

Speakers: Bobby Buckley, Anne Lawlor, Pat Sexton

Evaluators: Marie Lynes, Michael Cronin, Marie Fitzpatrick