Mullingar Coarse Angling Club Constitution

Approved and passed at 2008 AGM

A) Name

 A.1) The Name of the club shall be the Mullingar Coarse Angling Club 

A.2) hereafter referred to in the constitution as “the club”

 B) Objectives

B.1) The objective of the club shall be to provide competitive fishing for its members and to promote angling activities with in Mullingar and the greater Westmeath areas.

B.2) Furthermore to help promote good angling practices and to foresee the future of angling with in the Westmeath area by supporting such organization with similar interest in the same

B.3) cultivate the principles of fair angling and sportsmanlike conduct.

B.4) to fight the menace of pollution and poaching at all times and report at once any such instances to the authorities concerned.

C) Membership

C.1) Membership of the club shall be limited to 25 persons. Juniors under the age of 17 are prohibited from joining the club

C.2) Membership period is from 1^st of January to 31^st of December. Payment shall be made to club treasurer; new members may join during the year by completing the membership form obtainable from the club treasurer or through the website.

C.3) Membership fee will be 20euros regardless of joining date of member

C.4) Class of membership will be as follows

·         Ordinary Member

·         Committee member

·         Honorary Member

C.5) Honorary Life Members may be elected at the Annual General Meeting in recognition of services rendered to the Club or for such other reasons as the Committee may recommend. An Honorary Life Member shall have the full rights as if he was a Full member.

D) Conditions of Membership

D.1) it is a condition of membership that the rules and the byelaws of the club and state organization shall be observed at all times.

D.2) Treat the fish with respect and handle them carefully. NEVER use a cloth to handle fish.

D.3) enjoy the countryside but please don't leave litter or discarded line or tins. Take your litter home.

D.4) Close all gates and park without obstructing tracks or gateways.

D.5) do not dig out pegs or rack pegs if other anglers are present always leave 100m between you and other anglers if you intend on doing this activity

D.6) Use only carp-friendly nets on applicable venues 

D.7) does not remove any fish under any circumstances and report any diseased fish to an official organization

D.8) Members are requested to be discreet when answering the call of nature

E) Termination or refusal of membership

E.1) The club management committee is empowered to suspend, terminate or refuse membership to the club of any person whose conduct is in its opinion contrary to the club rules or to the determent of the club interests. Such activity shall only take place after a full investigation of the circumstance. The member in question shall be given an opportunity or explain or justify their actions at a special club committee meeting held for this purpose only

E.2) Suspension or termination of a persons membership requires a 2/3 majority of the committee members present at the special meeting

E.3) Any member, who has been convicted of a serious criminal offence warranting a custodial sentence, may have his/her membership suspended by the management committee

E.4) Anyone who has been before the committee for disciplinary action and found to be guilty should not be able to stand as a club official or represent the club for the term of 3 years; also the club membership should be told of any bans, of any period, that has been issued against any guilty members who break the rules.

E.5) The Management Committee shall have power to exclude from Membership any person found to have broken any Rules of the Club or byelaws or rules of any parent body or Association to which the Club is affiliated

F) Management.

F.1) Management of the Club shall be in the hands of the Committee, which will consist of the following; Chairman, Vice-Chairman, Treasurer, Vice-Treasurer and 2 Secretary’s

F.2) these appointments will be elected on by the membership at the AGM. Members wishing to put their names forward for a position on the committee will need to be seconded by another member; those members who have been successfully nominated will then be elected by the membership at the AGM to fill the committee positions starting with the election of chairman

F.3) The Committee Members to hold office for a period of one year.

F.4) The Committee may also co-opt other members of the Club onto the Committee if this is felt necessary.

F.5) a quorum of ten will constitute a Committee meeting.

F.6) Two Committee Members other than the Treasurers will audit financial records yearly.

F.7) No Committee Member shall be a member of any other Coarse Angling Club Committee.

F.8) Committee shall meet for a minimum of 6 committee meetings

F.9) the officers of the Club being, the Chairman, Vice-Chairman, Treasurer, Vice-Treasurer and 2 Secretary’s shall not incur any personal liability for any duties properly carried out on behalf of the Club. Any Officer so acting shall be entitled to be indemnified from the Club Assets

F.10) The Committee shall have control of the Clubs finances and shall expend or invest the funds of the club at its discretion for the benefit of the Club.

F.11) The Committee shall make amend or repeal existing rules provided that they are not inconsistent with the rules of the club. These rules will be published on the Club website

F.12) The Committee is the sole authority for the interpretation of these rules. The decision of the Committee thereon shall be final and binding on the members.

F.13) the Committee shall have the power to remit any entrance fee, subscription or part thereof and it may refuse to accept any subscription if in the opinion of the Committee it is desirable in the interest of the club so to do.

F.14) The Committee may fill any vacancy which may occur in the Committee between any two Annual General Meetings.

F.15) The Committee may affiliate the club to any association having similar objectives.

G) Meetings.

G.1) An annual General Meeting will be held in January each year and a minimum of two weeks notice advising of date and venue must be given to members.

G.2) An extraordinary or special General Meeting of the Club may be called by the Committee, or the Secretary, upon receipt of a requisition signed by no fewer than 5 members of the Club. As with the General Meeting at least two weeks notice must be given.

G.3) General Meetings are to be held at a time and place decided by the Committee. The Committee are to use whatever means are available to bring to the attention of the membership any forthcoming meetings and events. A quorum of ten will constitute a General Meeting.

G.4) Disciplinary meetings will be held by the committee as required and in keep with the rules set out in section E

G.5) Each Member shall be entitled to one vote

H) Alteration and additions to the constitution

H.1) Amendments, and alterations to the constitution can only be submit at the AGM or special general meetings

H.2) Any person wishing to make a submission to change club rules or constitution must do so in writing to the club sectaries 7 days before the date of the AGM or SGM

J) Financial Calendar

J.1) The clubs financial year shall run from 1st January to the 31st December in any one year

K) Representative teams

K.1) The representative teams fishing for the Club in the National and/or inter club competitions can be chosen by 2 methods

Method A) using a points system based on the results of the Club matches during the previous Club year (1st January to 31st December). The         points  system used will be the same as that currently used to decide the Club Champion and Runners-up.

Method B) Members may put there names forward for selection and selection will then be done by random draw from the hat bases

L) Dissolution of the club.

L.1) If at any Extraordinary General Meeting of the club, a resolution be passed calling for the dissolution of the club, the secretary shall immediately convene an Extraordinary General Meeting of the club to be held no less than one month thereafter to discuss and vote on the resolution.

L.2) If at the Extraordinary General Meeting, the resolution is carried by two thirds of the full members present at the meeting, the committee shall thereupon or at such date as shall have been specified in the resolution, proceed to realize the assets of the club and discharge all debts and liabilities of the club.

L.3) after discharging all debts and liabilities of the club, the remaining assets shall not be distributed amongst the full members of the club but sold at auction to the club members,

L.4) Current paid up Members shall be refunded their yearly membership monies

L.5) all remain funds shall be divided equally among the local charities’ which will be selected by the out going committee

M) Voting

M.1) Voting at all meetings shall be by a show of hands, but a ballot must be taken of those present if demanded by any member.

N) Trophies

            N.1) all trophies remain propriety of the club unless otherwise stated

N.2) All trophies shall be maintained and treated with respect while in a individuals procession  If there is any damage or breakages the individual is responsible for the full cost of replacement irrespective of whether the where they caused of the damage or not

N.3) all trophies must be available within 1 days notice for inspection by a club committee member if so required

N.4) all trophies must remain inside the country boundaries at all times

O) Associated rules and regulations

O.1) The club shall adopt all rules and regulations as pointed by the National Coarse Fishing Federation of Ireland. National Coarse Fishing Federation of Ireland to be hereafter know as NCFFI

 

Club Competition Rules and Fees

• The draw for pegs for each match will take 1 1/2 hour before scheduled start time of the match

• All club member are prohibited from fishing a competition venue 24hrs before a scheduled match date

• Any club member not present at draw time shall be included in the match at the discretion of the match secretary only.

• If member is going to be late they must ring a fellow member or sectaries of the club to appoint a person to draw a peg for them. If this is not done they can not be entered into the competition afterwards

• Once the peg has been drawn there will be no changing of pegs.

• A competitor normally fish from a point not greater than 1 meter from his peg

• All legal methods of fishing will be allowed subject to venue rules, failure to do so will result in disqualification

• Competitor may use normally  use all hook-baits with the exception of the following baits listed below

  • 1) Artificial lure
  • 2) Live Fish
  • 3)Dead Fish
  • 4)Bloodworm
  • 5)Joker

• All anglers should keep noise down to the very minimum before and during the match No shouting and no excessive walking around the bank or no slamming of vehicle doors

• All litter to be cleared from your peg prior to weigh in. Failure to do so will mean your catch weight will not be entered into the final results

• A fishing permit IS required to fish Shannon Fisheries Board Water’s Managed water system (Inny, Brosna etc etc)

• All permits if required are to be obtained prior to fishing

• Any number of rod/poles may be set up although only one at a time may be used

• Competitors will be allowed to plumb the depth prior to the all in only.

• Ground bait may be prepared prior to fishing and tested by the edge of the swim but not administered into the swim until the all in whistle.

• A competitor has 15 minutes to land a fish after the all out whistle provided the fish was hooked before the whistle sounded.

• No Pike or Game fish are to be included in the weigh in but eels are accepted

• Should there be any dispute the match secretary has the final decision in all matters

Match Fees and payouts

1. All match fees for the season 2008 shall be €10.00 per match. 2 euros of which will go to the angler of the year and 2 euros to the club to the club to help with running cost

2. Additional side Pools will be €10.00 per angler

3. Monies will be divide as 50% for first, 30% for second and 20 % for third place and section winners if section are used
5. Only 1st and 2nd will be paid out in the pools with 60:40 split respectively