The Rotary Club of Lisburn

Trip to the WW1 Battlefields

A small group of Lisburn Rotarians travelled to Northern France for a guided tour of the WW1 battlefields and monuments. Philip Morrow and VP Sam were the organisers of the trip and Rotarians Rowan Robin and their wives and Patrick Coyle  were joined by Ian McCorkill a non Rotarian who was looking for information of a relative who had been part of the Great War.A wreath in memory of servicemen from Lisburn who lost their lives in the Great War was laid by VP Sam.The tour was most educational and enjoyed greatly by all those who travelled.

More photos available on the gallery

Ian McCorkill, Club Visit

Visit To Loughan House with Joli Rider

Rotarians from Lisburn,Trevor,Dale,Colin,Helen Rowan and John McIlroy joined up with Rotarians from other Rotary Clubs involved in Joli Rider on a visit to Loughan House Prison. The Governor of Loughan House has been a great supporter of Joli Rider and has set up the facility for the inmates to receive bikes and refurbish them for transport to the Gambia.The 500th bike was sent to the Gambia in November and a group of Rotarians from Lisburn will be joining up with Joli Rider organisers on a trip to the Gambia to see the 500th Bike and meet the recipient and see what a difference the bikes have made to the locals. Some 1000 bikes have now been sent to the Gambia.

More Photos on the Gallery

Evening meeting in May.Father Brian Darcy

Father Brian Darcy with President David

We had a good attendance on Thursday 1st May for our evening meeting and we were delighted to welcome Father Brian Darcy as our speaker.He entertained us with lots of interesting anecdotes as well as impressing upon us the need to realise that normal of yesteryears is not necessarily what applies today and that change is vital.

He was an inspirational speaker and we congratulate President Elect Sam for the high standard of speaker we have had throughout year.

Also at the meeting a presentation was made to Tony Cassidy who recently retired after many years as Golf Manager in Dunmurry Golf Club. Tony has been very helpful to the Club in the many years we have been meeting in Dunmurr GC

Tony Cassidy with Father Brian Darcy

Giro d’italia

The 9th,10th and 11th May saw Northern Ireland hosting the start of the Giro d’italia one of the biggest cycle races in the cycling calendar.The whole country gave great support to the event with towns,pylons,cows and horses all painted pink to recognise the  pink shirt worn by the leading rider. Huge crowds turned out all around Belfast on the Friday afternoon for the time trial.President elect Sam asked the Club members to support the event by all wearing something pink at the Friday meeting. He also obtained a bike and other cycling memorabilia  from Chain Reaction.PP John showed a Tourist Board promotional video for the event and a pink Giro cycle shirt was raffled.Nigel Beggs is now looking stunning on his bike

Speakers March/April

Richard Pollock

Richard Pollock one of our newer members gave the Club a my job talk at the Club lunch on Friday 21st March

He gave us insight into his career in financial services and gave us some thoughts on recent budget changes to pensions.

Rev Harold Good

The Reverend Harold Good joined us at our evening meeting on the 3rd of April. He was involved in the peace process over many years and had been a witness to the decommissioning of arms by the IRA. He was constrained in what he could tell us but was still very informaitive about his role and the background to the peace process in Northern Ireland.

Henry Wilson

Henry Smith a local Historian had spoken to us earlier in the year on Erskine Childers. He kindly agreed to stand in on 11th April at short notice and gave us  a very interesting  talk on the Easter Rising its background and the repercussions. Thanks again to Henry for helping us out at such short notice

Cookery Class Night Out at Hadskis

After another enjoyable and educational year the members of the cookery class with their partners organised an evening meal in Hadskis restaurant in Donegal Street, Belfast.We were delighted to host our  Tutor for the year Jim Mulholland and his wife who were our guests for the evening. A few hardened drinkers met in the Duke of York for pre dinner drinks and we all the joined up at Hadskis for an excellent dinner.Jim has been an excellent tutor always stretching us and introducing new menus. We all await with fingers crossed for the results of our assessments and look forwrad to adding to our talents in next years class. More photos of the evening our available on the gallery Cookery Class

International womens Day

In recognition of International Women’s Day 2014 Rotary Ireland held a breakfast Friday 7 March attended by over 100 business and professional men and women Rotarians and guests.

The celebratory breakfast was held in Malone Golf Club and was one of 5 concurrent events held in Belfast, Dublin, London, Edinburgh and Cardiff organised by Rotary in Great Britain and Ireland, in partnership with UN Women. Reflecting the 2014 international Women’s Day theme Equality for women is progress for all, the Belfast breakfast acknowledged the accomplishments of women in business, in their profession, personal lives, volunteering and those at home

Sandra McCabe PP Lisburn Rotary Club, introducing the Award, stated that the many nominations received had been reduced to a shortlist of 6 and it had been a unanimous decision to award it to Noleen who, unknown to many, has given inspiration to hundreds of women across the province who have been affected by cancer. Diagnosed with breast cancer aged 22, 13 years later she has been re-diagnosed with secondary liver and lung cancer and is continuing to receive treatment and to fight and defy the odds. Despite this she and her husband have acted as a short term foster carer to a number of teenage children and in 2006 she founded the Pretty ‘n’ Pink charity as she wanted to help raise awareness of breast cancer, particularly in younger women. Having experienced the needs faced by cancer patients and their families Noleen also wanted to help provide funding for practical necessities as well as helping create lasting memories and an escape from cancer if only for a short period of time. In the first year of the charity she donated £15,000 to the Belfast City Hospital Cancer Centre to help with patient care. She achieved this with the help of family and friends and took part in numerous charity events such as skydives and several Belfast Marathon Fun Runs.

For a full report of the event click on the link below

International Womens Day

Cinema Night

Fellowship Chairman Kevin organised an excellent evenings fellowship on Thursday 26th March. Some 20 plus Rotarians and partners met at Balloo for a nearly evening dinner.Good food and good wine meant we were a little delayed getting to the Tudor Cinema in Comber.Lack of navigational skills on the part of some members who had perhaps enjoyed too much wine further delayed the start of the show.Fortunately our host Noel Spence was very understanding and waited patiently for everyone to arrive before he started the movie.

Closing the Ring was a film partly set in Belfast and involved a USA plane crash in Belfast during WW2.The movie was enjoyed by all and once again thanks are due to Noel for opening his lovely little authentic 60/70s cinema. Also to Kevin and Grainne  for organising

Wine and Cheese in Aid of Uganda Project

On Friday 28th February Dunmurry Golf Club hosted a Wine and Cheese at the Club. A plentiful supply of wine was  provided along with some excellent cheeses. Musical entertainment was provided by Bakerloo Junction and funds raised will go towards the Uganda project

Cookery class

Chef Jim with Star pupil Anne

The talented young chefs of the Rotary Club of Lisburn with a few non members continue to display their culinary skills each Tuesday night under the guidance of Jim Mulholland

We are now nearing the end of this years course and members are brushing up their portfolios for the end of term assessments