CONYNGHAM ROAD 'SICK AND RETIREMENT SOCIETY'

Thursday the 5th of October saw the Conyngham Road Sick & Retirement Society celebrate the retirement of 10 members.

The special Retirement & Presentation Night held in the in Dublin City Services Sports & Social Club, Coldcut, was attended by close to 200 people. Joining the retirees were their families and close friends together with colleagues from Dublin Bus.

This was a first for the society in that the 4 members who had reached the magical age of 65 years were joined by 6 members who were unfortunate to have to retire prematurely due to ill health. Each retiring member had seen many years of service with Dublin Bus indeed the M.C. for the presentation section of the night committee member Mr Hugh O Byrne informed the gathering that there was in excess of 400 years service between these men, something to celebrate wouldn't you say.

Judging by the number of retirees and family members that thanked us at the end of the evening and by the cards received after the event it would appear the everyone present enjoyed themselves This response made us feel our efforts were not only appreciated but meant a great deal to those whom were being celebrated. I must thank all those who assisted in the organization of the event and all those who attended and made it such a memorable occasion. A few instances stood out on the night that must be included in this article. Both Tom Kavanagh and Dessie Dunne got up to say a few words.

Tom proceeded to tell us a story about a football match that we are unable to put into print for fear we might be held liable, but a certain operations manager was involved enough said about that.

Dessie thanked the old committee for all their hard work in keeping the society going over the years and had a special word for Paddy McDonough who was part of the committee up to recently. He also welcomed the new committee members and wished them well for the future. On behalf of all the retirees Dessie thanked the whole committee for putting the night together. Indecently Dessie also treated us to a few songs as did Willie Nolan and Paddy Waldron. The STAR of the night had to be our own Peter O’Grady (O’G). Through his wit and gift of the gab he abused the retirees in the nicest possible way and in doing so made them feel that they were back in the garage, canteen or stance at any given time. The boys enjoyed it, their families and friends appreciated it and we all made allowances for the few expletives that inevitably comes from young O.G.s lips. God Bless him. May I on behalf of society members and the committee take this opportunity to wish the boys a happy retirement and all the very best for the future.

List of Honors

Alan Walsh

Dessie Dunne

Eamon Donoghue

Eddie Devlin

Hugh Elliott

Jimmy Bristly

Johnny Hughes

John Byrne

Paddy Waldron

Tom Kavanagh

Shay Burke was unfortunately unable to join us on the night as he was away on holiday. We sent our very best wishes to Shay and his family

The Presentations

The Presentation format for this year was designed to give the ethos of the society front line space. The ethos which is not often obvious in the day to day working of the society. Members giving to fellow members. On the night the ten retiring members and their companion were presented with their envelope and flowers by fellow members as follows:- John Kavanagh presented to Alan & Jacinta, Eric Maitland presented to Dessie & Celine, Fran Doran Presented to Eamon & Kathleen, Noel Coogan presented to Eddie & Bridget, Andy Monahan presented to Hugh & Susan, Peter Keogh presented to Jimmy and Eileen, Alan Denby presented to John & Pamela, Mick Fox presented to Johnny & Maura, Padric Collins presented to Paddy & Deirdre and last but not least Cathy Hickey presented to Tom & Chrissie. We would like to thank the presenters' for carrying out their role with such enthusiasm. The committee would like to give a special thanks to Mr. Christy Dorman Dublin Bus for adding to the retirees presentation pack for this we are very grateful and the pack went down a treat with all the recipients .

As already stated the retirement night was a great success this was due in part to the fact that Dublin Bus made significant contributions to the occasion on several fronts.

Those staff who were able attend on the night will have observed that the retirees were presented with a pack which contained not only a cheque from the society but also a Dublin Bus wallet, and complementary tickets for Dublin Bus City Tour along with complementary tickets to both the Guinness Store and Jameson's Whiskey Corner.

The retirees were very surprised and pleased with these extra gifts and expressed their appreciation to committee members on the night. We hope they get the opportunity to fully enjoy the their gifts.

Another important feature of Dublin Bus’s support was the supplying of the two busses assuring those attending were able to enjoy themselves without the worry of how to get home.

On another aspect, many of you will have seen the most recent edition of the BUZZ magazine and the photos of the retirement night herein this did not happen by chance nether did the fact that copies of the photos were made available to the committee for passing on to the retirees.

As you can imagine there are always real people behind these gestures and as often happens these people are not keen to be publicly thanked but I can ensure you that they have been individually thanked for the very kind and appreciated contributions.

The new committee became aware that the membership had been steadily declining over the last number of years. This was due members leaving the company. The Society undertook a membership drive in June of this year. As a result we ere very pleased to report that 35 new members joined the society effective 2nd July 2006. The committee would like to welcome our new members and hope they stay with us for many years to come.

The society are always open to new members the only real criteria is that you are of driver or inspector grade, based in Conyngham road depot and are under 55 years of age.

Special Note: People joining between the ages of 50 & 54 years inclusive are subject to a higher subscription.

Persons interested in join the society may contact any committee member for an application form. The committee have secured a new Notice Board located at the mid-landing stage of the canteen stairway and it is our intention to keep members informed with relevant information via this notice board.

Winter Draw Results

10 Prizes of €130.00

Paul Doran

Thomas Glacken

Paddy Maher

Derek O’Reilly

Gareth Conway

Edmond Boland

Niall Birchell

Nicky Hardiman

Graham Cleary

Paddy Downey

As members are aware the society have two free draws per year one in June and the second in December on the run up to Christmas. This draw took place on the 7th Dec. 2006 with 10 prizes of €130.00 and 10 Prizes of a bottle of spirits see

10 Bottles of Spirits

Yvonne Earley

Dermot Byrne

Patrick Collins

Owen Lennon

Gerard O’Callaghan

Thomas White

Patrick Kennedy

Thomas O’Grady

Shamus Neary

Finbarr Scott

BENEFITS

Sickness Benefit

Big Night for the Boys

List of Honors

The Presentations

The Dublin Bus Contributions

New Members Welcome

Winter Draw Results