On Tuesday, 29th November I attended the 2005 Ulster Region AGM. I am writing this letter as I feel very strongly as to how badly this meeting was conducted.

I realise that for some people taking this action may appear as ‘sour grapes’, as I was not re-elected for committee, but this is not the issue.

As a member of the SJAI and the Ulster Region, I have many concerning questions arising from this meeting which still remain unanswered. In the three years I have served on the Ulster Region committee, it has become apparent to me how many people with vested interests there are in a position of power and after witnessing the farce that was last Tuesdays AGM this was clarified even further, not only to me but to several others also.

For the first time in many years the number of nominations exceeded the number of places for committee and the attendance of voting members almost trebled from 2004, with many people joining the SJAI in the week preceding the AGM and some even going to the trouble to change their registered address!

I personally hope this is a positive sign that the members are, at last, taking an active interest in their sport. Perhaps a reason for this is how disastrously Irish Show jumping, especially at international level, has been ‘managed’ in the last year and this coming to light in the National Press.

Major changes do need to be made as to how our sport is perceived and a vital part of this is that the people we elect to run it must be accountable and above board. However, after many of the same old faces were put back into office on Tuesday night and how they conducted themselves and the Ulster Region 2005 AGM, I fear this will not the case.

Some of the questions I would like to raise are –

Why was a copy of the rules for an Ulster Region AGM not made available for all as had been previously agreed by committee?

Why did the Agenda say “Nominations for Membership of Committee” and not “Nominations for Membership of Committee and Office Bearers”? This was a point that many members found confusing and misleading.

Why was the Agenda, circulated on the night of the AGM, different from the one posted out on the 22 October? Was there a reason to omit Correspondence?

Why did the Chairman try to close the meeting directly after the election of the committee when there was still Correspondence and Any Other relative Business to be covered?

Why, when a member from the floor asked about Correspondence, was first told that no correspondence had been received. On producing a copy of the letter that had been sent to the Secretary, they were then told it must be read from the floor as it had come from the floor and on starting to read the said letter, were then informed that legal advice had been sought as to the content (of the letter they originally claimed not to have received) and it could not be read out at all?

Surely this shows a blatant disregard for the views of the grass root members. Does this contravene the Articles of Association of the SJAI?

Two motions from the floor were also put forward at the Ulster Region AGM –

1) To change the procedure in which Office Bearers were elected;

2) To put forward a vote of no confidence in the chair

Why did the chairman fail to acknowledge these two motions, which were proposed and seconded from the members and to which there was no counter-proposal?

Why was the meeting closed early by the chairman and the office bearers walk out of the meeting before Any Other relative Business was even addressed?

By refusing to allow a vote at the AGM and by not completing the meeting according to the Agenda is this in effect breaking Company Law?

Finally, and even more worryingly, what are the sinister motives of the people in question in deciding to flout the rules of the SJAI and the Companies Act, in an attempt to effectively gag the feelings and opinions of the very members they are meant to represent?

Alyson Freeman

The views expressed in the above letter are that of the writer and do not reflect the views or opinions of the management of jumpingaround.com

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