Brophy describes busy year

Outgoing president Niall Brophy described a busy year for Irish rugby as passing "very quickly" and that was the mood for the 124th annual general meeting of the Irish Rugby Football Union in Dublin yesterday.

The most intriguing subject concerned the accounts and on the whole they demonstrated significant improvements on last year. Honorary Treasurer John Lyons expressed his satisfaction with the figures. "There is an enormous change in the professional game and our response is shown in these accounts," he said. "Our total income was just over £13 million and 12 of that went back into rugby related activities." The operating surplus for the year was £416,074, a notable increase on the previous figure of £264,489.

After putting substantial investment into floodlight facilities around the country last year, Lyons stated that the plans now switch to the upgrading of Thomond Park in preparation for the World Cup next year which he said was "something Limerick deserved."

Noel Murphy has followed his fathers footsteps into the position of president and the former Lions and Irish international hinted at some of his major stratagies for the future. "The player to me has always been the most important person in our game," he said. "We must continue to develop opportunities for further player contracts and incentives to return home as well as support for players to go on to a higher level. Coaching is also a vital ingredient of the game and more openings need to be set in place to create coaching as a career option."

The position of senior vice-president went to Billy Lavery who has a proven record of administration with the Ulster Branch while the junior vice-president went to the former Leinster president and Terenure member Eddie Coleman.

There were only brief discussions at the end of the meeting concerning the Lansdowne Road development plan. The debate over the Newlands site in Clondalkin and the old race course in the Phoenix Park will once again be returning to the new committee for consideration. Tom Kiernan, chairman of the Working Commission, continues to lead the question of the future international stadium but after more than three years of research there is still no clear indication of what will be the outcome.

"This is a monumental move for Irish rugby so we have to be very careful to make the right decision," said Kiernan. "We're talking about a £140 million project so we have to explore every avenue in our interest and will continue to move cautiously on this matter. There is also the ongoing consideration of what happens with the Phoenix Park and with the FAI"

The open-floor discussion also raised the issue of the Charitable Trust which allocates funds towards injured players. That figure currently stands at just over £1 million but there was strong support for an increase in that over the next few years.

Officers for 1997-98: President - Noel Murphy; Senior vice-president - Billy Lavery; Junior vice-president - Eddie Coleman; Honorary treasurer - John Lyons; Honorary secretary - Phillip Browne; International Board - Syd Millar, Tom Kiernan; Trustee - Syd Millar; Branch Committee - J Stevenson, D Glass (Ulster), J Waldron, B McConky (Munster), J Hussey, J Powell (Leinster); D Crowley, DR M Little (Connaught); Exiles: B O'Driscoll; Union Committee - B Keogh, D Daly, J Quilligan, R Loughead, P Boyle, A Crawford.