President’s Address to the AGM 2014
Ladies and gentlemen,
Good morning and welcome to the 2014 AGM of the Irish Photographic Federation. A special welcome to all member club delegates who have registered with us this morning. In order to address the business of the day in a timely, constructive and professional manner, and out of respect to member club delegates present, only currently serving members of council and registered delegates will be allowed to speak from the floor.
Over the past year, the IPF has been as busy as ever in organising and refining our annual events. Our distinctions sittings continue to thrive and are attracting more applicants from the North than before. My thanks to Bob Morrison and Des Clinton for their continued dedication and work toward the continuing success of these sittings in Waterford, Thurles and Mullingar.
Last September saw the SACC host a very successful Celtic Challenge in Cork. The hospitality and entertainment on show for our Celtic cousins made this such a memorable event. On behalf of the IPF I wish to extend our gratitude to the SACC organising committee for their work and attention to the finest of detail here.
The AV group continues to thrive in its own quiet way, holding its annual championships last October. It is always a pleasure to visit this annual gathering and witness the dedication of the organisers, especially our own Lilian Webb.
November witnessed perhaps our most successful ever Shield competition, on this occasion held in Malahide. The quality of competing photography on offer, together with the visiting speakers on the day made this an event to remember. My thanks to Darragh Sherwin and the members of Malahide CC for making the Shield one of the foremost events on the IPF calendar.
In recent years the Print and Projected together with the National Nature Finals attracted a diminishing attendance. In response our event coordinator, Michael O’Sullivan organised a combined weekend in Kilkenny last February featuring both events. Attendances at both events rose dramatically as did the number of images to be assessed. A big thank you to Michael and his support team for turning both events around to such effect.
This weekend here in Mullingar we have the pleasure of participating in our national interclub showpiece competition, showing what is truly best in Irish club photography. It is always a huge pleasure to stroll among the panels displaying such fine quality prints.
Apart from running our regular national events, what’s new?
To begin with, our annual yearbook which had been a loss making venture for several years, has now been replaced by the inaugural Images of Distinction CD containing images from all our distinction holders. This has been a pleasure to watch and is set to become an annual publication.
Secondly, the North. Last September, Bob Morrison and I travelled to Donegal and met with a group of photographers from Belfast to Donegal with a view to forming a new North West Region for the IPF. Progress here has been slow, but with increasing participation of northern clubs at distinctions and all other competitions especially this weekend, it is obvious to all that clubs from the North and North West are becoming increasingly involved in IPF activities at all levels.
Finally, in relation to the draft constitution, a working group has been very slowly drafting a new constitution to address the modern day needs of the clubs into the future. This has been a painstaking process involving much consultation and valuable feedback from the clubs. This will be discussed later on today’s agenda.
So, today brings me to the end of my three year tenure of office as your president. I must say that this has been both an enormous pleasure and a most enriching experience. Most importantly I have made many great friends from the most humble of clubs to the well known “premiership” clubs. These friendships above all I most deeply cherish and I remain most grateful to you all.
Thank you.
John Cuddihy
President and Chair of Council
Irish Photographic Federation