Constitution

Version: 2.6 Last AGM/EGM: 22nd March 2023

Article 1. Policy Statements

1.1 The title of this Club shall be University of Galway Mountaineering Club (UG MC), henceforth referred to as ‘The Club’.

1.2 Membership of The Club is limited to students, staff and alumni of the University of Galway, members of the Galway Mountain Rescue Team and members of Atlantic Technical University (ATU).

1.3 The aim of the club will be to provide a means for the safe and enjoyable practice of all mountaineering – related activities as appropriate for its members.

1.4 This document should be made available for viewing to all club members (via the club website) in an uneditable format only.

Article 2. Affiliations

2.1 The club shall be affiliated with Mountaineering Ireland.

2.2 The club shall also be affiliated with the Galway Mountain Rescue Team.

2.3 The club shall also be affiliated with the University of Galway Rover Society.

Article 3. Annual General Meetings (AGM)

3.1 The annual general meeting of the club will be held every year before the beginning of the summer exams.

3.2 A minimum of two weeks’ notice has to be given to all club members.

3.3 The AGM is to be chaired by the captain of the club.

3.4 Club members should be given the opportunity to submit motions or topics for discussion regarding the club and its operation ahead of the AGM to the captain. The agenda should be made available to the club members in advance.

3.5 The format of the AGM will be as follows:

• Captain’s report – a report on the general operation of the club over the year
• Treasurer’s report – a report on the financial operation of the club over the year
• Motions / Discussions / Voting if necessary
• Elections

3.6 Voting on motions may be done by a show of hands.

3.7 The minutes of the AGM are to be made available to all club members.

Article 4. The Committee

4.1 The club is to be run each year by the committee - as elected at the Annual General Meeting.

4.2 The committee will consist of a number of club members dedicated to running the club. The committee elected must have a Captain, a Treasurer and a Secretary and these positions must be filled at the AGM.

4.3 The Captain will be responsible for the overall operation and direction of the club.

4.4 The Treasurer will be responsible for the finances of the club.

4.5 The Secretary will be responsible for communication in the club.

4.6 The remaining committee positions will be titled as follows and should be available for candidates at the AGM:

• Hiking Vice Captain
• Hiking Training & Safety Officer
• Climbing Vice Captain
• Climbing Training & Safety Officer
• Public Relations Officer
• Equipment Officer
• Trips Officer
• First Year Representative
• Ordinary Committee Member
• ATU Officer

4.7 All committee members, with the exception of the First Year Representative are to be available for election each year at the AGM.

4.8 ATU Officer has to be an ATU student, if none are put for election then the position remains unfilled

4.9 All members must be nominated by another club member and then seconded before they can stand for election at the AGM.

4.10 Voting at the AGM (or at any EGM) will be by secret ballot for the election of committee positions.

4.11 A “Re-open nominations” option will be open for all elections. It is not desirable, but a committee position may be left vacant if there is no one to fill it at an AGM, however, the core positions must always be filled as previously stated.

4.12 The Club Captain, Secretary, Treasurer and Vice Captains can be elected at an AGM or EGM only.

4.13 The committee may appoint up to a maximum of three other committee members each year by majority vote at the committee meeting without calling an EGM.

4.14 Committee Meetings will be organised as deemed necessary by the club captain. They must be announced to all committee members.

4.15 In the absence of the captain, either of the vice captains, treasurer or secretary, may chair the meeting.

4.16 If an important vote is to be taken at the committee meeting, at least two thirds of the current committee must be present to vote.

4.17 Upon election onto the committee after the AGM, any new committee members may sit in on any remaining meetings of that year for a smoother transition period.

4.18 The committee will have a designated role of Environmental Officer, as specified by Mountaineering Ireland. This role will be assigned to one of the existing committee positions.

4.19 The committee will have an advisor and they will be appointed by the outgoing committee. They must be an experienced committee member from a recent committee. They will be elected at an AGM/EGM

4.20 The Committee Advisor will have no vote on the committee and will only serve to offer advice to the current committee based on previous learnings of older committees. They will attend committee meetings.

4.21 A maximum of two OCM, Ordinary Committee Members, can be appointed onto the committee.

4.22 Any payment from the club (Including card payment) must be approved by the Captain and the Treasurer.

Article 5. Emergency General Meetings (EGMs)

5.1 An EGM of the club must be called to re-elect the Captain, Secretary, Treasurer or either of the Vice-Captains if necessary during the course of the year.

5.2 An EGM may also be called for a change in the constitution, requiring a written request to the committee with at least 30 signatures of club members.

5.3 A minimum of seven days notice must be given to all club members of an EGM and the agenda must be made available in advance of the meeting.

Article 6. Dismissal of a Club Officer

6.1 Any officer of the committee may be dismissed by the membership, by the passing of a motion of no confidence by a majority of members at an official meeting of the committee

6.2 A motion of no confidence shall be proposed by one member of the committee and seconded by another member of the committee.

6.3 The accused shall be notified of the motion at least three academic days before the hearing of charges at an official meeting of the club.

6.4 The accused shall be granted an opportunity to plead their case to the committee before voting occurs.

6.5 The dismissal of a member as an officer does not affect the right of that member to stand for future elections and they may still hold their position as a member of the club.

6.6 If any committee member misses three committee meetings in a row without a valid excuse, they must be dismissed from the committee.

Article 7. Club Events

7.1 All decisions relating to the organisation and funding of club events are the responsibility of the committee and the committee only.

7.2 The determination of what is and what is not a club event shall be the responsibility of the committee, and the committee alone.

7.3 All members who wish to partake in climbing related activities and/or climbing areas must have passed a club climbing assessment. Members may be asked to present their assessment card as proof of assessment at any time by any committee member.

Article 8. Behaviour of Club Members

8.1 Members must agree to abide by all rules and regulations set out in this document and must behave in accordance with the University of Galway Code of Conduct when taking part in club activities.

8.2 Club members must take direction from walk leaders and/or climbing instructors at all times when participating in club activities and/or on behalf of the club.

8.3 If a club member endangers himself or herself or another club member during a club event, they may be cautioned, and following two such cautions they may be banned from future club activities.

8.4 In exceptional circumstances, a club member may be banned from all future activities without any warnings.

8.5 It is up to walk leaders and/or climbing instructors to judge when a club member has endangered themselves or others. They must notify a member of the committee to deal with this.

8.6 Club members must note that our outdoor activities are of an extreme nature and can be dangerous. Participants should be aware of these risks and accept responsibility for their own actions and involvement.

8.7 The committee will have the final call on all involvement in the club and have the right to prevent people from participating in club activities if they deem there to be a valid threat to themselves or other club members in any way.  

Article 9. Equipment

9.1 Failure to wear the necessary gear for hiking as specified in the gear list found on our website and/or wearing inappropriate items as listed in the gear list may lead to exclusion of a member from the event (such as the Sunday hike). Gear will be examined and deemed appropriate by committee members, prior to boarding the bus.

9.2 Through the University of Galway Sports Unit, the club claims ownership of all the equipment it owns or purchases for use.

9.3 In order to borrow an item of club equipment for use outside of a club event, club members must request to do so via the online system and inform the captain and equipment officer. The equipment officer may apply conditions to the borrowing of an item of club gear at his/her discretion. Club gear must be returned in the same condition it is given out.

9.4 Club members who borrow gear can be liable to pay for the replacement or repair of gear if lost or damaged. It is up to the decision of the committee whether the club member will be charged.

9.5 All other issues related to equipment and its use (taking article 9.6 into account) are the responsibility of the current committee and the committee alone.

9.6 Failure to wear the necessary gear for climbing and/or wearing inappropriate items, as specified by the committee (or their nominated representatives), may lead to exclusion of a member from the event.

9. 7 The club’s mountaineering quality tents will only be used at the Maamturks Challenge and in mountain situations where the use of such a tent would be required in order to ensure their longevity. It shall be the decision of the committee to decide if a certain situation is a valid use of the tents.”

9.8 All members borrowing club equipment for private use will be required to leave a minimum €5 deposit with the committee. This will be refunded following the return of the equipment to a satisfactory standard as deemed so by the committee.

9.9 All members borrowing club ropes will be charged €2 per day of use.

9.10 Failure to abide by any of the above rules (within section 9) will result in a six month gear ban.

Article 10. Data Protection

10.1 An official data protection policy for the club will be kept separate from this constitution and maintained jointly by the committee and webmaster team.

10.2 The committee will be responsible for ensuring all members' details are securely stored by the club, all mailing lists will be blind cc’d to protect members' details.

10.3 Incident reports should be kept in a safe place as per the length of time which is the statute of limitations (currently 6 years) unless the committee decides to extend this. Medical forms should be kept for one year.

Article 11. Insurance

11.1 University of Galway Sports Club Insurance covers members on club events only.

11.2 A safety form is signed annually by all club members, both hikers and climbers and kept in club records. The safety forms are to be reviewed by committee members and filed in a secure location.

11.3 The club will make Mountaineering Ireland membership available for all club members at the appropriate rates but it will not be subsidised by the club.

11.4 While insurance will not cover non-members, members of the public may take part in club activities on ‘visitor’ status for up to three events but they must sign an indemnity waiver to acknowledge that they will not fall under club insurance.

11.5 In the event of an incident of any serious nature, the sports unit should be informed at the earliest convenience and an incident report should be submitted to the sports unit.

Article 12. Maamturks Challenge

12.1 The Maamturks Challenge is an annual event in the Club calendar that takes place in spring. The club commits to holding this event every year, when/if possible. It may be cancelled due to extraordinary circumstances.

Article 13. Amendments

13.1 Any amendments to this document can only be made at an AGM or EGM of the club by a majority vote of those present.

13.2 Amendments and the reasoning will be noted in the appendix.

13.3 New points will be added under new numbers and the number of any points removed will be re-used for different points.

13.4 When updated, the revision number and date on the cover page should be updated as required to avoid any confusion. The file name should also be changed.

13.5 The committee will be the owners of this document. It is the responsibility of the current committee to ensure the proper updating of this document as necessary.

13.6 The committee has the discretion to change the wording of any article without altering the meaning of the article, in relation to spelling and grammar mistakes.

 

---

Appendix

Any amendments, reasonings or relevant notes should be recorded here.

EGM, 12th October 2015

RE: 11.3: It was decided that Mountaineering Ireland membership was too costly in times of less funding to provide it for free for members of the committee and last year’s captain as has been the custom. The club will remain affiliated with Mountaineering Ireland and will continue to offer it, but interested will have to pay the membership fee (~€20) themselves.

---

AGM, 11th April 2016

RE: 4.18: It was decided to introduce the role of Environmental Officer based on requirements by Mountaineering Ireland to have one in the club. As the committee was already large, it was decided that this role could be given to one of the members already sitting on the committee. This would be at the discretion of the current committee.

RE 4.19 & 4.20: In order to allow for continuity and lessons learned to stay with the club, it was decided to introduce a Committee Advisor who would be an experienced committee member who could offer advice when needed.

---

EGM, 23th November 2016

RE: 1.4: To allow the constitution to be hosted on the Wiki.

RE: 4.6: Ordinary committee member was added to the list of positions available for election at an AGM.

RE: 4.21: It was officially noted that a maximum of three OCMs could be appointed to a committee at any one time. This was to prevent the committee from becoming too large.

RE: 9.5: No point related to climbing gear was in the constitution. It was decided at the EGM that this point would be written at the first committee meeting of 2nd semester.

RE: 11.1: It was noted that club insurance only covers members at an official club event. It is up to the committee to decide beforehand if an event is an official club event. Generally, these events would be open to all members and suitable to advertised.

RE: 13.6: Allows the committee to change spelling mistakes without an AGM/EGM.

---

AGM, 29th March 2017

RE: 1.2: This motion will allow GMIT members to join club activities. The exact nature of how still needs to be sorted.

RE: 4.6: Amalgamation of the climbing & hiking registrar positions.

RE: 4.6: GMIT Officer added.

RE 9.6: Line added about charging committee members.

RE 4.12: Word Maximum added.

RE 4.19: Allowed advisor to be elected at an AGM/EGM.

RE 9.4: (taking article 9.6 into account) added.

RE 9.6: Whole article added.

RE 9.7: Whole article added.

RE 7.3: Whole article added.

---

AGM, 19th April 2018

RE 9.3: Removal of "or a Senior Committee Member". Only the equipment officer will have the ability to give out gear.

RE 9.3: Addition of "Gear must be returned in the same condition as it was given out".

RE 9.3: Addition of note stating club gear cannot be used for caving.

RE 9.7: Addition of the word "minimum".

RE 9.8: Whole article added. This is to support the upkeep of club ropes.

---

AGM, 2nd April 2019

RE 4.22 Added to allow debit card use for the club.

RE 6.6 Proposed by Fionn Delahunty, designed to ensure that committee positions are active.

RE 9.3 Introduction of an online system.

RE 9.10 Ensuring rules are kept.

RE 10 - 10.3 Updated to reflect GDPR.

Registrar changed to Trip Officer.

---

EGM, 17th October 2022

Updated name of National University of Ireland, Galway to University of Galway.

Updated name of Galway Mayo Institute of Technology to Atlantic Technical University.

RE 4.21 Increased number of OCMs from 3 to 4.

---

AGM, 22nd March 2023

Added 4.8 ATU officer must be atu student

RE 4.21 Decreased number of OCMs from 4 to 2

RE 9.3 Removed club equipment not allowed to be used for caving

Minutes

Folder of EGM/AGM Minutes