Reachra County Annual Report 2009

I write this report with more than a twinge of sadness and a huge sense of pride. This year marks a milestone in the County with the passing of the baton to a new team and in doing so I harbour back to the formation of the County just six years ago.

To many, forming this County and indeed any County was an enormous leap of faith. Scout Groups would always continue as they had but the new and most important structure was the support network that is a Scout County. I am enormously proud of the efforts we made to ensure we ‘hit the ground running’ as a new Scout County by forming and developing the relationships with each other that enabled us to continue to be leaps and bounds ahead of the rest. I want to pay tribute to one person in particular who was key to the whole process of forming the County and that is our County Chairman, Dave Keogh. In the lead up to the County and ever since then, Dave has been a rock of sense and full of enthusiasm to bring people together with a single focus of working together for the common goal of supporting local Scouting. Dave has been an excellent Chairman of the County, a great friend & mentor and, as he is keen to point out, a good tenant! While all of this was happening in the background, Dave never forgot the real reason he is in Scouting by continuing to be Skipper to his Scout Troop and Scout Group. Thanks Dave!

Dave and I are just two members of a great team of dedicated Scouters that make up the County Management Committee. Over the last 6 years, the faces have changed around the table but the commitment and willingness to help each other has remained the same. I set an important goal for the County Management Committee when we first met and that was to create a collegial atmosphere where each GL can discuss any issue with the team and receive the support of others to help and ensure that no one person feels alone in tackling any issue. We have achieved this goal and it is my wish for it to continue into the future.

Every Group is very ably represented at the County Management Committee by their Group Leader and I want to thank Therese, Siobhan, Lo, Cathal, Barry, Roseanne, Les, Diane, Ronan, Dave, Denise, Peter and Dave for their excellent work and dedication to their respective Groups. One Group that doesn’t have a report in the pages of this Annual Report is that of 66ú Scoil Neasain. The Group has had a tough time in the last two years and on behalf of the County I want to pass our sympathies to the O’Scolaí family on their recent bereavement. The intention is to have a push to re-open the Cub pack in the coming year and I know that everyone in the County will give their full support to this effort.

No team is complete, however, without those who bring it all together and support the common needs of Scout Groups. We in Réachra have been lucky to have three such people who all work with the single focus of doing their best for everyone in the County. George Cathcart is not only one of the most creative trainers in Scouting Ireland, he also one of the most passionate about the importance of training and learning from each other. Thank you George and I hope you get the well-deserved break you are seeking.

County Commissioner Report

We in Réachra have been fortunate to have one of Scouting Ireland’s best CPC’s in Jill Mulholland. Jill is a natural in the role and is the living definition of a Programme Scouter. In the last two years, Jill has been assisted in the role by Lisa and Michelle and I thank them all for their work and dedication to the County. I also want to single out Roseanne Whelan who last year took on the role of County Treasurer. I’m convinced that Roseanne must have a large Hat Stand for the amount of roles she has taken on! Roseanne greets everyone with a hug and a smile and will forever be a friend to everyone who works with her. Thank You Roseanne for everything and keep going!

At the same time as the formation of the County we were also part of the formation of the North Eastern Province. At every meeting of the PMST or gathering throughout the Province we have always been well represented and a key part in making our Province work. I want to thank the North Eastern Province for their support of me in my role as County Commissioner. I especially want to single out Christy McCann and Jimmy Cunningham who as Provincial Commissioners have always been supportive and encouraging. The backbone of the Province is our PSO, Gerry Hickey. Gerry is the ultimate oracle for Scouting knowledge and dedication and keeps in regular contact with everyone in the County making sure they are doing well and willing to help at a moments notice. Thanks to everyone who works or has worked in the Province and especially my fellow County Commissioners for the support we give each other.

Finally to all of the Beavers, Cubs, Scouts, Ventures and Scouters who make up Réachra Scout County. I have been honoured by being the first County Commissioner of Réachra and remain in awe at the amount of Programme that takes place week to week in our Dens and meeting places. Whether we find ourselves on the water, on a mountain, in a field or indoor, you get more and more creative and adventurous in the Programme that we plan, do and review. Keep it up! Go climb a mountain or jump in a lake!

Thank you for the opportunity you have given me and I leave the role, but never the County, with a heavy heart and a big grin, safe in the knowledge that Scouting heart beats soundly in Réachra.

Yours in Scouting

James O’TooleCounty Commissioner

Group Reportsfor2009

5th Port Beavers, Cubs, Scouts and Ventures (and hopefully adult Scouters too!) had a fun, busy and wet year in 2009! In total we have 300+ members in the Group so that was a lot of fun!

The year started with hiking, the Scouts and Ventures on the Dick Vekins memorial hike in January and the cubs hiking in the snow on the annual County hike in February. We finished the year with a great evening ice-skating in December, which was attended by 125 members of the Group from Cub Scouts to GL’s!!

In between, everyone was busy with weekly Section parades, badge work, boat maintenance, competition preparation, kayaking, more hiking, sailing, gorge walking, rowing, dune jumping, more kayaking, sailing and rowing, pioneering, work parade, raft building, Chief Scout’s Award projects, camping, overnights and lots more.

Camping weekends, Pack Holidays and Annual Camps included Tuesday Cubs Sixers’ and Seconders’ great weekend in Roscommon, followed soon after by their Pack Holiday again in Roscommon, when the wet weather did not dampen their spirit! Monday and Tuesday Packs attended the Teresa Redmond Trophy Cowboys and Indians camp in Lough Dan and did very well in the competition. The Indians must have done a rain dance because it rained there also!! Saturn Pack attended the Medieval Times Cub camp and later in the year Monday and Saturn Cubs had a great weekend hostelling in Larch Hill.

Wednesday Scouts had a moving camp on the River Boyne, setting up camp most evenings after a long hard day on the river and striking camp early in the morning after a hearty breakfast before setting off down the river to the next site. Valkyries had to abandon their moving camp as heavy rains swelled the river and instead they headed to Portlick where

they had an equally good time. Each of the Troops were joined by some of the Ventures who were able to help out. The Ventures (also known as V5!) enjoyed a walking trip from Galway to Rosaveal and on to the Aran Islands and back to Lahinch and Kilkee where they camped for a few days. They also went on a hostelling trip to Edinburgh.

Easter is always a busy camping weekend and Easter 2009 saw the Wednesday Scouts enjoy their Watch Camps in Wicklow, and the Valkyries and V5 camping in Powerscourt with what seemed like the multitude!

Tuesday Pack hosted the Totem Trophy in September, and Monday and Saturn Packs participated. Thankfully the weather was great and they had a great day in St Annes.

All of our Scouts did well in competitions this year, from both the participation and prize point of view, but special congratulations are due to Valkyries U17 skiff rowing team who made history by becoming the first female team to win the Wood Latimer trophy in its 95-year history.

We look forward to 2010 and hopefully sunnier weather! PLEASE!!!!!

Yours in Scouting

Therese Kelly & Siobhan BallGroup Leaders

6 Réachra Scout County Annual Report 2009 7Réachra Scout County Annual Report 2009

12th Dublin SEA SCOUT GROUP

SEA SCOUT GROUP

2009 was a busy year for our group with the aim of celebrating our 90th Anniversary with a number of planned group activities, overseen by Kevin Rowan, such as fun days, quizzes, hikes and our long awaited group photo organised in the grounds of Malahide Castle.

We have 510 youth and adult members involved in our Beaver, Cub, Scouts and Venture Sections. We continue to strive to provide a high standard of quality programmes, with the strong emphasis in creating challenging and fun activities for our Scouts.

Our sections this year have taken part in local, county, provincial, and national events such as Beaver days, Teresa Redmond Trophy, supporting local Panto show, Beaver Overnights, Pack Holiday’s, Swimming/Rowing & Sailing Regattas, Hamill/Fry Cups, Summer Camps, Liffey Descent, the Triathlon to name but a few. During the year Watch Leader, Kevin O’Connor climbed Kilimanjaro for charity, and Watch Leader Joey McCarthy went to South Africa to work in the townships during Christmas.

All sections undertook to organise and participate in Slumbernights, pack holidays and annual expeditions as well as our regular camps throughout the year this equates to approx 130 nights under canvas and if you multiplied that by the number of youth members who slept under those starry skies, it would be in the thousands!

The group gained a further skiff and a number of canoe polo kayaks during 2009, which added significantly to our fleet of boats, this will help provide water activities for the growing number of youth members within the group and the increased demand on the fleet throughout the year.

In August of this year the railway bridge collapsed ending our much enjoyed canoe programme around the area known as the Arches. A number of leaders

have been endeavouring to gain this programme back through consultations with the relevant groups. Our appreciation is extended to Ivan Barrett, Robert McKiernan and Brian Cobbe for their expertise in helping to resolve this.

9th Port Malahide’s commitment to our local community is a very important feature in the programmes that all of the sections provide. During 2009 the young leaders of Buioin Neala organised a fun day within the Group in aid of Laura Brennan Charitable Trust (for families of sick children), raising €2,100. The Saturday Beaver Team also held a fun activity in aid of CASA break Houses in memory of James Sheridan realising a sum of €1,070. The Annual Christmas Party also donated much-needed funds to the RNLI.

2010 is looking to be another busy year, I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of our leaders, executive team and our newly re-established Parents & Friend’s committee who continue to share their valuable time with unequivocal dedication. With their strong commitment to Scouting the Group can continue to serve the young people within our community.

A special thanks to Ger Duffy who stepped down as from his position as Skipper Wednesday troop, due to work commitments. Also heart felt thanks to Gerry Hickey for his continued support to the group.

May we take this opportunity to thank James O’Toole (County Commissioner) for the generosity of his time and to wish him the best of luck in his future endeavours.

Yours in Sea Scouting

Lo KlinkenberghGroup Leader


15th Dublin SEA SCOUT GROUP

SEA SCOUT GROUP

The past year of 2009 has seen us finish another decade of Scouting in Mafikeng. It only seems like yesterday that I was writing the report for 2008. The Group has again undertaken a large amount of work to ensure the strength and survival of the Group, so that it is possible for us to provide the programme for the youth members. We have a Cub Pack, an every expanding Scout Troop and a Venture Unit which is somewhat diminished as many of the members have now become leaders. We have also re- opened our Beaver Colony within 22nd Dublin after we had to close it some years ago due to the lack of leaders.

The leader team within Mafikeng Scout Group is now getting back to the numbers which has made our group such a success in the past. We have now been able to address the lack of Leaders within certain sections and to assign new young leaders who are in training to help out in the relevant sections.

In 2009 the Cub pack were very active, some of the activities included a day trip to the Scout Easter Camp in Powerscourt, overnights in the Scout hall and the annual Christmas outing to ice skating in Smithfield. The cubs also took part in Jamoige over the June bank holiday weekend. The weekend turned out to be the best weather for a camp that I have been on in many years. It was the complete opposite to Jamboree 2008 as it was the need for water which kept us all busy as opposed to Jamboree where we were trying to get rid of water.

The Scout Troop in 2009 was again active including a number of activities including Troop Day Hikes, Easter Camp, Patrol Overnights and Activity Training Days. The Leadership team within the Scout Troop again changed over the summer and has seen another previous leader return to take over as SL.

The Ventures only had a few activities over the year as most of the members were starting the process of becoming leaders and the younger ventures were either helping out in the relevant sections within the group or undertaking external projects.

The outlook for 2010 is for Mafikeng to be ready for the role out of the new programme, to get as many leaders trained as possible and to set out a plan for the next decade of Scouting within the Group.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank all the leaders for their tireless work in the group over the past year. We look forward to an exciting and challenging year of Scouting in Mafikeng throughout 2010.

Yours in Scouting

Cathal YatesGroup Leader


22nd Dublin SCOUT GROUPSCOUT GROUP

2009 was a busy year for Sea Scouting in Howth with every section active and running a full Scouting programme. It was great to see every member getting a chance to participate in Summer Camp, Pack Holiday, Venture Expedition or Beaver Sleepover. The year was not without its challenges, however, specifically the situation regarding the lease renewal for our Den, and we had to fight a very public campaign during October and November to highlight our plight. Things are looking up on that front at the moment, and while not fully resolved, we are seeing positive progress. We received a lot of help and offers of help from parents, friends, other Scout Groups, Local politicians and the general public. We would like to take this opportunity to thank everybody who helped by writing letters, lobbying, donations, expertise and expressions of solidarity.

Our Beaver Colony currently has 28 members and ran a full Beaver programme for 2009, including an adventurous sleepover as well as working towards their Paw badges. Our new members are settling into their Lodges since their investiture in November and the programme is helping to build co-operation in the lodges while having fun.

Our two Cub Packs have a combined membership of 55 and meet on Monday and Thursday nights. The highlight of the Cub Year was a combined Pack Holiday that was held under canvas at Portlick Scout Campsite. The Cubs enjoyed kayaking, crate stacking as well as archery and a climbing wall. During the

evenings there were night hikes and a campfire. They survived one night of torrential rain - but came home smiling and smelling of wood smoke - a perfect camp! The Cubs also had a number of hikes, trails and walks throughout the year including a hike along the Wicklow Way finishing off in Larch Hill where there was a pitched battle between some UN radiation inspectors and a group of cut-throat Gyberobian nuclear smugglers, thankfully the UN won! During September and October, 13 of the older cubs completed our patented SWABL training to become fully-fledged Sea Scouts in November.

Our Scout Troop has added 21 new members during 2009 and is now made up of five watches with 40 members. The highlight of the Scouting year was Summer Camp, which was camping, sailing, rowing and sometimes swimming in Lough Key Forest Park. The main boat for Summer Camp was the BP18 and this is currently recovering in the boat deck after a hard year. Following Summer Camp

the “regatta season” was soon upon us and the Scouts participated in as many events

as possible including the Scout Regatta in Dun-Laoghaire (won U14 BP18 rowing),

the Swimming Gala and the Sailing Regatta in Malahide. The Scouts also

entered two teams in the Hamill Cup for Junior Seamanship and won this competition for the first time in many years. We also hosted the Master Mariner competition. The Scouts are focused on building

strong Watches at the moment and are looking forward to a busy 2010.

Our Venture Unit used the first half of the year to train and prepare for their expedition, which took them flotilla sailing in three yachts around the Greek Islands. The Ventures needed to be capable of fully crewing the boats and learned a lot about seamanship, shifting winds and sprained ankles during the trip. Their photos are currently brightening up the walls of the den with clear blue sky and sunshine. At the end of the year we had another major event when George and Mary Cathcart stepped down from active Venture leadership. They are both still active in the Group and we know that they will always be part of the Howth Sea Scout Group.

Our Parents and Friends group is currently focused on Den Lease renewal - but we hope to get back to the business of maintaining and improving our Den once the situation is resolved.

Yours in Scouting

Barry TwohigGroup Leader


28th Dublin SEA SCOUT GROUPSEA SCOUT GROUP

CONGRATULATIONS TO 9TH PORT MALAHIDE....

Celebrating 90 years of Scouting!

1919 2009

We have had a great year with all sections in 2009.

The beavers have had a very busy year. They went on many activities including the old favourites of the Pantomime, Easter Egg Hunt and Sports Day. They had a marvellous day out in February with a visit to the National History Museum. They also had a day in Newbridge Farm, which is always a firm favourite. In October our Beavers went on their first Slumber night in many years. They had a fantastic time in Howth where they went to the playground in the dark! All were asleep at the early hour of 2.00 a.m. and are looking forward to their next one. Many thanks to Howth Scout Group for the use of their den. In December they visited Santa at Mellowes Play Centre in Athboy. It was a wonderful day finished off by the Grange X Factor on the bus on the way home. We welcome Margaret Pillay as a new leader to our Beaver section and wish her many years of happy scouting.

The cub pack has also had an active year with many activities including the Pantomime, Founders Day hike, the cub quiz and the open day at Leinster House. The cubs featured on the news following this visit and were delighted to see themselves on the T.V. They achieved many proficiency badges including athletes and first aid. Activities away included Jamoige and Teresa Redmond, in which we came 1st and look forward to defending their title in 2010! They too finished off the year with a visit to Santa in Athboy and tried very hard to win the X Factor on the home. In true scouting tradition they were all winners and it was a draw between the Beavers and Cubs! The numbers in the Cub Pack have increased to a regular attendance of 20 Cubs every week.

The Scout Troop has also moved along nicely this year. Their numbers have increased to almost 30 and they have had many successful outings

during the year. These included hikes, a Treasure Trail with bases in Howth in January organised by our Scouts undertaking the Chief Scouts Award, a bivvy night in Powerscourt in June, and a DART challenge in September. They had and overnight in Donabate Scout Den, which was a new location for the Scouts and was by all accounts a successful night. Thanks to Donabate for the use of the den. They had other weekend activities including Glendalough Hostel for the annual Patrol Challenge in November. Easter Camp was held in Powerscourt and was a great success. In July the Scouts had a day activity of a clean up on Dollymount Beach. This again was organised by the Scouts undertaking the Chief Scout’s Award. Summer camp this year was held in Petersburg in Galway in August and went well.

I finish by thanking all the leaders in 35th for their dedication to the group and the young people in their care and wish all in Réachra the very best for 2010.

Looking forward to the coming year and all it has in store for us.

Yours in Scouting

Rosanne WhelanGroup Leader


35th Dublin SCOUT GROUPSCOUT GROUP

Another year has passed very quickly, but maybe it is because we have been so busy again!

The Beaver section are steadily ticking along with its core rock steady leader Gerard who really needs some additional help, so please be on the look out. Beavers meet every Saturday morning and have fed hundreds of kids on to Cubs, Scouts and even Leaders over the past years. So a BIG THANK YOU to Gerard from all at 46th. A lot of badge work has been completed this year and arts & crafts have been great. The Beavers attended the cinema, zoo and many hikes, which were a great success as usual.

Our Cub section hosted the Teresa Redmond Trophy after winning it many times over the last decade, but this year 35th Grange won it and we are GUTTED not to be hosting it this coming year! Maurice, Rachel & Stacey lead the Cubs to win the Totem Trophy with masterful skill and guidance as usual. That’s why we probably didn’t win the Teresa Redmond Trophy - still gutted we are not hosting that this year! Cubs are flying this year and have passed some great Cubs onto the Scout Troop that have hiked their little socks off in 2009.

The Scouts went to Crawfordsburn in 2009 and sent a daily photo album via the web to all the families of the Scouts. It was fantastic to see the Scouts daily having some brilliant fun with trips to Giants Causeway and the Armagh Planetarium included! James, Ian, Paul, Suzanne and, introducing, Chris are hoping for a good summer this year to cram in lots of outdoor activities. Dream on guys...this is Ireland! Pat has had the Scouts and Ventures on numerous mountain treks in rain and snow conditioning them for Everest I think! Rumour has it that the Scouts might be going to Kibblestone in Stoke on Trent this year and the Ventures might help out to get some camping in for Sweden.

Finally 46th Trinity are helping The Variety Club of Ireland to treat 300 kids to a boat trip around Howth and Malahide and feeding them a cracking BBQ in Howth on the grass front in late May. This would be more fun than most of these kids see in a whole year so all help is appreciated!

Yours in Scouting

Les DuffyGroup Leader



Beavers were busy as ever in 2009 and all the Beavers attained at least two of their paw badges with some getting three by Christmas. We enjoyed all of our usual activities including a sleepover and several (exhausting for the leaders) hikes. We managed to get out and about a lot in the local and greater Dublin area during the year thanks to a few extra leaders and lots of Parents helping out. We are looking forward to an even better year next year.

The Cub Pack worked as a single pack all year and it worked out really well. Overall they were very active as well completing their cyclists badge, going to the Panto, taking part in the founders day hike, environmental project in Turvey woods, orienteering. Summer found them at Jamoige, which they thoroughly enjoyed. Other activities lots of hiking including one to Glendalough on the day the area had the highest rainfall in years!

The Scout Troop had a good year getting through badge work and going on a few hikes. They spent lots of time working with the MPSE leader on improving their fire lighting skills! Summer saw the troop on the water with sailing at least two nights a week for the entire summer. This year their

Summer Camp was at the international Jamboree in the UK which was an excellent experience (the usual paparazzi were in attendance and so pictures of the troop are all over the SI mags). September brought everyone back to do link activities with the Cubs and during October the new Watches settled down to develop their new programme for the year as well as spending some time training in canoes in the pool once the weather turned.

All in all it has been a successful year for the group, we are getting more organised all the time and the sections are doing very well. A huge note of gratitude has to go to the leader group without whom NOTHING would ever happen. The new leaders are fitting in very well and will take over in no time( I hope ;)).

Our thanks to all of the Parents and Friends of the Group who have helped out over the last year, your continued support makes all that we do possible.

Yours in Scouting

Diane DignamGroup Leader


63rd Dublin SEA SCOUT GROUP

SEA SCOUT GROUP

This is to be my last report as Group Leader of 73rd Dublin (Raheny) Scout Group. Our assistant Scout Leader, Mark Hardiman, will take over in 2010 as my successor. Building on from last year’s report, we have had another great year with all sections growing in numbers and with the additional Leaders joining, 2010 promises to be another great one. The latter part of 2009 saw the start of our renovating work to our den. This work will improve the interior of our den and make our den a more child friendly place for all.

Our Beaver Colony has a total number of 24 Beavers with 5 Leaders and a young volunteer completing her An Gaisce Award. The Colony had an active year and worked on attaining their different coloured Paw badges. This involved Road/Home Safety, Basics of First Aid, Hygiene, What to bring on Camp, knots (which they are doing well in), The Different Weather Conditions and Arts & Crafts. They had 2 Slumber Nights (first time ever), the first theme’s night was ‘teddy bears picnic’ and the second was ‘under the sea’. In both Slumber Nights the Leaders had them sleeping in tents inside the Scout Den. The idea of this is that the Beavers would get a feel for camping, as we are planning on going away camping as a Group at Easter in 2010. A few highlights of the year included: the Provincial Challenge Day (we had 3 Groups), Animal Awareness Day at Dublin Zoo and they visited Santa up in Larch Hill, which was a great success. Another highlight was getting all of the Beavers invested with great support from their parents. They are looking forward to 2010 with many activities planned for the Colony.

Our Cub Pack has a total of 24 Cubs and 5 Leaders. 2009 was another active year for the Raheny Cub Pack. After attending the Baldoyle Christmas Panto in January the Pack bundled up for an adventurous snow hike in the Wicklow Mountains! At Easter they camped out in Larch Hill

were the Cubs built bivvies to protect themselves from the water balloon ‘war’ which broke out on the Saturday afternoon. As the Summer approached, our pack attended JamOige, which was enjoyed by all (phew, was it hot!). In October, they welcomed some new members to our pack by taking them hiking the cliff walk in Bray and having a Halloween campfire outside our den. In November, they braved the floods and headed down to Glendale Lodge for a farewell weekend to some of our older cubs who were moving on up to Scouts. Later in the month they also took part in the Réachra county quiz. They ended their year with their annual Christmas party and look forward to expanding their pack in 2010 with some new arrivals from our beaver colony!

Our Scout Troop has a total of 30 Scouts and 5 Leaders. They had a busy year and are planning on doing more adventurous activities outside of the den next year. At their meetings, they concentrated on getting the Scout Troop working together in Patrols and increasing the skills and knowledge of the PL’s. They have been improving their knot work, obtaining more skills badges, learning camp craft before their annual camp together with hike preparation and first aid in the last few months of the year. They had a number of hikes over the year including a snow hike at the start of the year. Their first camp of the year was to Lough Dan in April, where they ran a programme based on camping and outdoor skills. They hosted the 5th Carlow Scout group in our den; they challenged them to quasar, rounders and soccer and unfortunately lost 3 times in a row! Their Annual Camp was to Lough Keel campsite in Roscommon. A varied programme was run, including every scout obtaining their sportsman’s badge amongst other badges. They did a bivvy night on McDermott Island in Lough Key. They camped beside the Sea Scouts from Bray and got on well with them. They had planned to stay in their den in October and go boating with them but,

unfortunately, this was cancelled due to bad weather. In August, the Scouts performed a guard of honour at our Leaders, Martin & Ann-Marie’s wedding and received many complements from the guests there on how well they looked. Congratulations to Mr. & Mrs. Punch! Another good sum of money was raised for the section with the 12 Days of Christmas tickets and along with the Beaver & Cubs sections; a donation was made to St. Francis Hospice from this money.

Finally, I would like to thank all of my fellow Leaders from 73rd Raheny for their loyalty, commitment, dedication and time to me and all of our younger members over the past few years. Thanks also to all of the parents and friends who helped out over the year. I wish Mark the very best of luck and offer any support that he may need. I also wish the Group all the best for 2010.

Yours in Scouting

Dave Walsh Group Leader


73rd Dublin SCOUT GROUPSCOUT GROUP

The Scout Troop this year participated in events on the Wicklow Way & Howth hike, Kayaking in East Wall, Ice skating, lots of badge work and wood work, Group day out to Newbridge House and farm. The Scouts made Christmas logs to fundraise for our new den and held a Barbeque on the beach. The Troop held its Summer Camp on the Isle of Mann in August. The Troop has 3 leaders at present and 19 Scouts.

The Cub Pack has 25 Cubs and 3 Cub Leaders. The Cubs have been doing a lot of badge work and are making good progress on their arrow work. The Cubs also had a trip to the Cinema, went swimming and held Pack Holiday Offaly. The Cubs also attended Sports day, took part in the County Hallowe’en party, went on a trip to the zoo, Ice Skating, the Panto in January, made Christmas logs to fundraise for the new Den, had a hike in Dalkey and took part in the Scout Show in Drumcondra.

The Beaver Colony has 30 Beavers and 3 Leaders. The Beavers are enjoying their Paw Badge work and have take part in a Sports day along with a trip to the cinema, visited Santa in Larch Hill, went to the

Pantomime, took part in the County Hallowe’en party, Easter egg hunt in St. Anne’s Park and went on a night hike to Howth.

As a Group we had a Group day out in Newbridge House and farm. We are also very involved in the community as the Group plays a big part in the community fun days, carol service, Hallowe’en disco and fire work display. Leaders are all taking part in training and that is something that is going very well at present; we are currently doing a first aid course with all Leaders in the Group and some of the Scouts.

Our new Scout Den is finally completed and we are preparing to move in. We have had a long 7-year battle to get our Den back up and running. We are looking forward to having an open day and some over nights for all of our Scouts.

Yours in Scouting

Denise O’KeeffeGroup Leader

74th Dublin


SCOUT GROUPSCOUT GROUP

Portmarnock Group has grown by 16 members since last year’s report. We have some about 16 dedicated leaders and a host of voluntary parents and friends as required. All sections have had a good Scouting year despite not having a place of our own to meet and we have held regular and fruitful monthly Council meetings which helped to steer the group throughout the year. The group has been represented at all County meetings as they arose.

We are enthused by the provision of a site for our new Scout & Guide Den by Fingal County Council and they have committed to providing some expertise such as architectural and surveying along with a long-term lease on the lands. The den expected to be of timber frame log cabin type and building is expected to begin in mid 2010 at a cost of around €600K. We already have €350K towards the project.

The Cub and Beaver sections ran until July when they closed as parents took children away on holidays and leaders planned holidays to coincide. The Beavers had a very busy schedule with lots of fun activities always with learning skills built in. Our Cub section had a very successful year with hiking, activities on the beach, model making and a weekend camp. Their highlight was a fantastic time at the Jamoige and a joint Beaver and Cub barbeque and treasure hunt on the beach. The sections re-opened in September and continue to operate a full and fun filled programme.

The Scout section selected a theme of scoutcraft for the year and followed up with lots of badges and Scouting activities. During the summer the Scout Troop remained open despite having no place for meetings during the school closure. The group met on the Portmarnock Beach, in parks and planned activities to replace the weekly meeting. They had a highly successful camp to the Isle of Man for nine days in early August and 31 scouts attended. I was honoured with a presentation from the Isle of Man Government Tourist Board for his promoting the Island for Scouts for over thirty years. Two PL’s went forward to Venture Scouts and 4 new

PL’s participated on a leader training programme in October.

October too, saw the Scouts provide a Guard of Honour for the Papal Nuncio at a special ceremony in the parish. The Group went on a conker hunt and held a conker competition at the following troop meeting. For the mid-term break the group went to the Share Centre in Fermanagh and participated in all sorts of outdoor activity including an Eco hike to Bull Island where they visited the Interpretative centre and all brought binoculars, afterwards they had lunch at the 5th Port Sea Scout Den. Plans for the Scout Group to travel to Austria for camp in 2010 have been shelved as they have decided to support Irish during the recession and keep the money at home, so camp 2010 will be in Ireland! The section all participated in developing a Troop Charter which was signed by the SPL and presented to each Scout. In December two patrol leaders, Conor Dillon and Eoghan Clarke were presented with the Bronze Gaisce Award. The year was rounded off with a trip to Ice skating and presentation of ‘scout of the year’ to Seán Murphy.

Our venture section too have been busy helping with other sections as well as running a very active outdoor programme with 2 day activity hikes, a camp to Aran Islands and four of the group successfully completed the Explorer Belt in July. In December, four also were presented with the Silver Gaisce Presidents Award at Trinity College.

We are all looking forward to a new Scouting year and especially to seeing our Scout & Guide facility being built at long last. I am especially grateful to all of the dedicated leaders, helpers, secretary and treasurer of the 120th Group who give of their time so willingly, without them we could not offer such a fantastic Scouting programme to the children of Portmarnock.

Yours in Scouting

Peter O’KellyGroup Leader



As I sat down to write this report it dawned on me that it would be my last as Group Leader as my two terms come to an end this year. They say that time flies when you are enjoying yourself, well, that’s certainly been the case with me as the last six years have certainly flown in and I have enjoyed every minute of the role working with an outstanding team of Leaders in developing the Group to where we are today. I am delighted to report that 2009 was again a very active year in all the sections with an increase in numbers of young people and Leaders. Like premiership football teams we have our “youth academy” which turns out young adults each year willing to give up their time to train as Leaders and become involved in the various sections.

All sections apart from Beavers, had annual camps and expeditions, our Ventures going furthest afield to sunny Spain, no more rain for them again! Using the services of JEKA, they based themselves in Barcelona taking part in numerous activities, on and off the beach! Both Scout troops headed off to the UK, the Eagle troop to Huish Woods Scout Camp site in the County of Somerset and the Hawk troop headed to Jersey in the Channel Islands. Both camps were blessed with good weather and all involved had a great time. Like the scouts, our two Packs headed off, the Wolf pack went to Bell Harbour Activity Centre in the Burren taking in activities such as caving, pier jumping, swimming etc. The Lion Pack visited Bispham Hall Scout Centre near Wigan, Lancashire taking part in numerous activities including visiting the Lord Mayor!!

Numerous Hikes, Camps, Hostel weekends, sleepovers took place during the year, finding suitable indoor venues is the big challenge particularly for our larger sections with fifty plus members. Any information on indoor venues catering for large numbers that don’t cost an arm and a leg would be gratefully received!! All Leaders bar two have completed Child Protection Training, this coming year we hope to get most through the other modules prior to the introduction

of the new Woodbadge scheme next September. Congratulations must go to Vinnie Heeney who received his fourth bead from Fiona McCann, Training Commissioner, at the recent Provincial Trainers meeting. Anyone who has trained with, or participated in a course led by Vinnie, always leaves with great enthusiasm to go back to his or her sections and put into practice all the mad stuff they picked up!!

This coming summer sees all our older sections heading off to places far and wild on various Pack holidays, camps and expeditions. We bid farewell to Laura Tracy and Michele Dougan who are taking, hopefully, only a short break and welcome back Aisling Costigan into the role of Beaver Leader. A warm welcome also to Mairin Dalton and Ciaran Yeates into the Group and congratulations to Cillian Costigan and Sheena Keegan (both Beaver Leaders) who tied the knot at Christmas, love is definitely in the air!!

As I mentioned at the start of this report, I step down after two terms and I am delighted that Maire Costigan has accepted the nomination for Group Leader. It will be a baptism of fire for her with all the new developments taking place but I am sure she will give it the same time and energy that she always gives to her other work in the community.

My many thanks to our outgoing County Commissioner, James, the architect of Réachra, my landlord and good friend for his time and support for Bayside over my tenure. We wish him the best of luck in his future role. Thanks also to our Provincial Team, Jimmy, Gerry, James and Declan and here’s to a successful Scouting year ahead with our new Programme.

Yours in Scouting

Dave KeoghGroup Leader


132nd Dublin SCOUT GROUPSCOUT GROUP

I can’t believe that this is the 3rd year I have written a message for your County Annual Report. As they say time flies when you are enjoying yourself!

Again last year, Réachra increased the number of young people and leaders that weekly get a Scouting experience. This is a great credit to all of your leaders in all of your Groups for the excellent programme you provide week in week out throughout the year.

Last year many groups from Réachra made many improvements to their Scout Dens and I had the pleasure to attend the opening of one of these; the multi-million euro development of The Crow’s Nest, the Scout Den of 12th Dublin (5th Port of Dublin, Dollymount). It was extra special to see The Den being re-opened by one of the Group’s young Beaver Scouts and one of the Groups former leaders, and indeed former Chief Scout, Dr. Eoghan Lavelle. The Province wishes the Group every success with this fantastic facility, which will meet the expanding needs of the Group well into the 21st Century. I know other groups are expanding or building and we can’t but praise the efforts that these groups are putting in to safeguard Scouting in their areas.

You are lucky here in Réachra to have such an active County. The full team here whether it is in Training, programme, etc give excellent opportunities for both Leaders and Scouts. Camping and the out of doors are what people join Scouting for and you certainly serve that up here in Réachra.

This year is significant in so far as it marks the end of 2 very successful 3-year terms for your outgoing County Commissioner, James O’Toole. James in the work that he has put in over the last 6 years has placed this county well and truly up at the top of Scouting Ireland’s ladder of successful Counties. James over the years built up successful County Teams and that is one of the main things that make this County strong. One could not start to thank James for the work he put into the county. Year after year James built on the success of the previous years and James always addressed the issues that arose from time to time in a very Scout like manner. It will be a great wrench for James to give up being Commissioner here in Réachra but he can do so with the confidence that he left this County in a lot stronger position now than when he took on the role. I know the County will wish James well in whatever he continues to do in Scouting, but one thing I know for sure; James will be around for a long time in Scouting Ireland. We all in the province wish James the best of luck in his quest for election as National Treasurer and I’m sure he will get a great turnout from the County for the election at National Council. I would also like to take this opportunity to thank all the people who have served on County Management Teams during James’ term. Hopefully you enjoyed being part of making the difference in Réachra.

To the youth members of Réachra I want to thank you for been so passionate about your Scouting. This is borne out by how many youth members took part in events such as Annual Camps, Jamoige, various Sea Scout Competitions and the Explorer Belt to name just a few. In the coming 18 months you are going to have a chance to have a greater say in what young people want to achieve in Scouting and my challenge to you is to embrace the new Programme with both hands and make this ONE PROGRAMME something that we can all be proud of.

As I look forward to the year ahead and the challenges that implementing One Programme presents within the Province I would like Réachra to know that we are working hard to make this as smooth a transition as possible for all of our Groups and Counties and we know as before in any project undertaken by the province Réachra will not be found wanting.

I wish Réachra County and the incoming County Commissioner and his team the best of luck. I encourage you to keep up this important work for which I also hope you are enjoying as much as me.

Until next year, Safe Scouting and have fun!

Yours in Scouting

Jimmy CunninghamProvincial CommissionerNorth Eastern Province

Message from the Provincial Commissioner

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Reachra County Annual Report 2009

Documents

county chairman

new scout county

county management committee

dave keogh

thanks dave

new team

scout troop

group leader