Dear all,
As a new D.C. of Wicklow Pony Club, I consider it a great privilege to join with my Co-DC Catherine Clarke and welcome you to the First WPC Newsletter of 2021.
2021 is a milestone year for WPC being the 50th anniversary of the club’s foundation in 1971. Like many other WPC families my own family have a very dear and longstanding connection with the club. My father Andy Dunne was on the founding committee of the club in 1971 and remained on the committee for several years. Growing up my three siblings and I were very active members of WPC, participating in almost all branch and interbranch activities. Needless to say, we benefited hugely in our development as horsemen and women from this association and over the years we never lost our connection with the club. We formed lifelong friendships along the way and it gives me great heart as I take on the D.C. role to know that I am working alongside many other committee members and parents who once rode alongside me in the WPC colours. I know they too share this deep-rooted connection and loyalty to WPC and they demonstrate it all the time in their relentless efforts to make our club the very best club it can be.
I also consider myself very fortunate to be able to step up to the role knowing I have the partnership and support of Catherine Clarke as Co. DC. Catherine is entering her third year as D.C. and her experience in the role to date is invaluable. In addition to this her work ethic and passion for the job are second to none. We both aim to create and maintain a positive environment for all WPC members and their families to enjoy. Central to that experience for Catherine and I are our own daughters Louise and Laragh who are both active members who benefit from all the club has to offer. In addition to that however they must live with the realities of having mothers who have agreed to take on the D.C. role. This will at times result in our attention being drawn away from their efforts and this will inevitably prove challenging for them. I would ask that you are mindful of this and support Catherine and I as we endeavour to strike the delicate but essential balance between our parental responsibilities to Louise and Laragh and those that the D.C. role brings.
Other new officers to the club are Lorraine Mannion Secretary and Tom Medleycott, Treasurer. Lorraine and Tom have both hit the ground running and are already proving to be well fit for purpose. Thank you both for stepping up to the challenge and agreeing to take over from Emily Morrisey and Lynn Bellows who served us so well in recent years. Lyn will remain on the committee and continue to offer support to Tom whilst Emily has been granted temporary release papers and we are not ruling out taking her back on to the committee in the future should she wish.
I must also say a huge Thank You to outgoing committee members Niamh Cherry and Jason Kelly for their efforts over the years. Niamh served as our Secretary for a number of years whilst juggling the parental responsibilities for three children. Jason managed all our Social Media and Website demands whilst juggling parental responsibilities for 4 children. Thank you to Ed and Anne for loaning them to the cause.
Kara McAllister, Aishling Sheridan and Teri Daly have kindly agreed to join the committee. We wish these three ladies well and look forward to working with you in 2021 and beyond.
To conclude I would like to offer my heartfelt thanks to our outgoing D.C.s Amanda Mooney and Carol Coad. These two ladies are the kind of people who make things happen and together with Catherine they showed us all exactly what that looked like in 2020 by getting our club up and running when many other clubs did not manage to do so. I’m delighted to say that both Amanda and Carol will remain on the committee and will no doubt continue to bring that same energy level to everything they do.
Amanda and Carol together with many others have carried the D.C. torch for WPC. over the past 50 years. The club has grown in numbers and in strength since 1971 but what has not changed is our commitment to ensuring all WPC members enjoy and benefit from their Pony Club experience. That experience will represent different things for different members, some will be very competitive and others may enjoy participation without wishing to be competitive. WPC will continue to provide an environment and space which caters for all pony club members and sees them enjoy their Pony Club experience whatever that looks like. In that spirit, I’m hopeful that our first D.C. and club founder the late Dr. Constance O’Reilly-Hyland will be smiling down upon us all as we work together to achieve that goal and celebrate the clubs 50th anniversary
Mary Dunne Molloy
Joint D.C. Wicklow Pony Club