RULES AND CONSTITUTION OF Skerries Amalgamated Bridge Clubs
SKERRIES
1 The name of the Club shall be Skerries Amalgamated Bridge Clubs.
2 The Club shall be a Members Club.
Objectives
3. The objectives of the Club are to play and promote the playing of Contract Bridge and activities ancillary thereto for the benefits of its members.
MEMBERSHIP
4. Membership shall be open to persons who are proposed and seconded in accordance with these Rules and who are accepted by the Committee.
5. Applicants for membership shall be proposed and seconded by existing Members of the Club. The application shall set out the applicant’s name, address, grade and previous experience of playing Bridge. Completed Application Forms, duly signed, shall be presented to the Hon. Secretary of the Club who shall present them to the next meeting of the Committee. The Committee shall consider such applications for membership and shall be at liberty to accept or reject same. An Applicant shall become a Member of the Club after acceptance by the Committee, and upon payment of the first annual subscription.
MANAGEMENT
6. The Club shall be run and managed by a Committee elected by the Members at the Annual General Meeting of the Club. The Committee shall consist of a President, Vice President, Hon. Secretary, Hon. Treasurer (collectively described as the Officers of the Club) and no more than twelve ordinary Committee Members.
7. The Officers and Committee Members of the Club shall be proposed and seconded and elected at the General Meeting.
8. An Annual General Meeting of the Club shall be held in each year and not more than fifteen months shall elapse between an Annual General Meeting and the next Annual General Meeting unless extenuating circumstances prevail and if such circumstances do prevail then an AGM shall be called as soon as possible after the fifteen month period. The Club year shall run from 1st September until 31st August. Subject to these Rules, the Vice President of the Club shall, at the expiry for any reason of the President’s term of office, automatically, and without election, become President of the Club. The President’s term of office shall be for a two year period. All Officers and ordinary Committee Members, other than the President and vice president of the Club, shall be elected at the Annual General Meeting. Proposal for election to the Committee shall be in writing and shall be signed by a Proposer and Seconder and the nominated person, each of whom shall be paid-up members of the Club. Notice of the holding of the AGM shall be given not less than 14 days before the holding of such meeting, and this notice shall be attached in writing to the Club Notice Board. In addition, verbal announcements shall be made at each meeting of the Club during the 14 day period prior to the holding of the Annual General Meeting, and the attention of Members shall be brought to the Rules for nomination of candidates for the roles of Officers of the Committee or Committee members. Should there be more than one candidate for an officer’s position, then a poll shall be taken and the candidate receiving the majority of the votes of those present shall be declared elected. A similar procedure shall be adopted for election of the ordinary Committee Members. At least four members of the Committee shall also become directors of SABC Company Limited by Guarantee which is the holding company of SABC Clubhouse. Any committee member has the power to co-opt any member of the club to the committee by nominating the member for the committee and must be carried by a simple majority vote of the committee
9. The President shall preside at the AGM of the Club for his/her two year tenure. At the end of the two year period the President shall preside at the AGM until the election of the new Committee. The new President, formally the Vice President, shall take the Chair immediately after such election is concluded. The President shall continue in office for two years unless, in the meantime, he/she retires, resigns or otherwise is removed from office. Should the President so retire, resign or otherwise be removed from Office then the Vice President shall automatically become President, and in such circumstances, shall continue in Office until the next AGM when he/she shall automatically become President, and in such circumstances shall continue in Office for a two year period from the AGM. On the retirement or resignation of the President, a new Vice President shall be nominated by the President and must then be elected by the Club Committee by a simple majority vote, and this Vice President shall continue to act as Vice President until the President retires from the position or is removed from office and the position of President becomes vacant.
10. The Hon. Treasurer of the Club shall keep the books of account in which shall be recorded all monies received on behalf of the Club and all disbursements made by the Club. The Hon. Treasurer shall present a Balance Sheet and an Income and Expenditure Account to the AGM of the Club which shall be audited by auditors elected annually at the AGM.
The Hon Secretary shall keep records of all affairs of the club and shall furnish all reports/minutes at the AGM of the club.
MEETINGS
11. The Committee shall hold such meetings and order the business at such meetings in such manner as the Committee shall decide.
12. In addition to the AGM required by these Rules, an Extraordinary General Meeting may be called in exceptional circumstances. 14 days’ notice shall be given for the holding of an Extraordinary General Meeting. An Extraordinary General Meeting may be called by the Committee of the Club and shall be called if a requisition signed by not less than 25 paid-up Members of the Club or one third membership of the club, whichever the smaller, shall be presented to the Committee. The Committee of the Club on calling an Extraordinary General Meeting shall specify in writing the purpose for which the meeting is being called, and no business other than that specified in this written notice shall be transacted at the Extraordinary General Meeting. The requisition by the members shall similarly specify in writing the purpose for which the Extraordinary General Meeting is called, and no business other than that specified in the written requisition shall be transacted at the meeting. Notice of the holding of an Extraordinary General Meeting shall be given in the same manner as for the Annual General Meeting, except in cases of extreme urgency, which may be called at short notice provided that notice of holding such meeting shall be circulated in writing to the Members.
An Ordinary General Meeting of the club may be called by the Committee at any time and at least 14 days’ notice must be given before the meeting is held. The Agenda and all papers must be circulated prior to the meeting at least 14 days before the meeting is held.
13. The quorum for an Annual General Meeting, an Ordinary General Meeting or an Extraordinary General Meeting shall be 40. The President shall preside at such meetings, and in his/her absence the Vice President shall preside. Should both President and Vice President be absent fifteen minutes after the time scheduled for the commencement of the meeting, then the members present, provided there is a quorum, shall nominate one of their number to take the Chair. If the Nominated Member takes the Chair, then regardless of whether the President or Vice President subsequently attend at the meeting, he/she shall continue to chair the meeting until its conclusion.
GENERAL
14. The Club shall be affiliated to the Contract Bridge Association of Ireland.
15. The Committee shall be responsible for the organisation and running of competitions in the Club and the appointment of Tournament Directors and shall be responsible for setting out all conditions affecting club competitions. Such domestic competitions shall conform to the Rules of the Contract Bridge Association of Ireland and the Committee shall be empowered to make such arrangements in regard to the number of tables, grade of player and number of boards to be played as they, in consultation with the Tournament Director, shall decide. The amount of the Annual Subscription shall be decided by the Committee, but may not thereafter be altered during the Club year.
In the event of any member acting in such a manner as to bring the club into disrepute or disrupt the smooth running of the club for the enjoyment of other members, the committee shall have the right to reprimand such member and to warn them as to their future conduct. This may be done verbally or in writing. If the said member continues to act so, the Committee may, only by unanimous decision of the Committee to do so, shall cancel such person’s membership of the club and refund their annual subscription for that year.
16. Amendments to these Rules and Constitution shall be made by resolution passed at an Annual General Meeting. The proposal for amendments shall be signed by both the Proposer and the Seconder and shall be presented in writing to the Club Hon. Secretary not less than ten days before the Annual General Meeting. The proposal for amendment shall be circulated at the Annual General Meeting, together with the names of the Proposer and Seconder. Any such proposed amendments shall be carried by a simple majority.
17. Any question of interpretation of these Rules shall be referred to a special sub-Committee of five Members of the Club to be drawn by lot from the membership. The decision on the interpretation of the Rule by this sub-Committee shall be final.
There may be an Extraordinary General Meeting called to change Rules and Constitution.
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