Ulster Rugby vs Toulon

IAN BEGGS CALLS IT A DAY

Ian Beggs, a very popular administrator of the game of rugby for many years, both at club and Ulster Branch level, has stood down from both the Clubs Committee and the Competition Management Committee, after an involvement of 41 years. Ian association with his club Carrickfergus stretches back, even further, 58 years and counting. Ian has been a stalwart of Carrickfergus RFC for seven decades. It all began when Ian, who did not play rugby, attended their Annual General Meeting on 4th September 1956, on the invitation of some of his friends, who were members (primarily to get out of the rain, it has been said). At this meeting Ian was promptly elected Club Honorary Secretary, a post which he held for thirty eight years, until 1994. In addition, Ian has been a Club Trustee at Carrickfergus for over 20 years and also one of the founding members of the club’s Sevens Committee. Carrick 7s has now been running continuously for over forty years and has become one of the most successful and prestigious sevens tournaments in Ireland. Together with his years of sterling service to his club, Ian has also been a committed servant to Ulster Rugby at Branch level, serving in several roles. He has been the Carrickfergus RFC representative on the Clubs Committee (previously called the Junior Committee) from 1973 to 2014 and was one of five representatives from this committee to the main Branch Committee from 1979 to 2012. Ian has also served, with distinction, on the Competitions Management Committee (and its predecessor). This committee is one of the hardest working committees in the Branch and deals with the organisation and day to day running of all the various cup and league competitions. He was appointed to this committee in 1976, has been a member ever since and was made its Chairman in1987, serving until his retirement last May.

Time was also made by Ian to serve on the International Ticket Allocation Committee for many years and to add to his other numerous roles he took on one of the least glamorous jobs at the Branch, that of a Voluntary Steward at Ulster matches, a task undertaken in all weathers for over 20 years. Ian’s service to rugby was recognised, when he received two prestigious awards, the Dorrington B Faulkner (in 2007) and The Mr Boots Awards (in 2008). The Dorrington B Faulkner Award is an award sponsored by Perennials RFC which is presented at the Ulster Rugby Awards Dinner, each year. It is awarded to a person who is deemed to have made an outstanding contribution to club rugby in Ulster over a number of years. The Mr. Boots award is presented every year to someone who has excelled in their work for junior rugby in Ireland and was introduced after the retirement of Willie John McBride in 1980. One of Willie John’s last games was against Arklow RFC and afterwards he presented his boots as a memento hence the wording of the prestigious annual IRFU award. Ian was a worthy winner of both these awards. In addition, at the Annual General Meeting of the Branch in 2012 he was honoured by being elected an Honorary Life Vice President of the Ulster Branch, an honour which has only been awarded three times. While Ian has retired from his commitments with the Ulster Branch, he will remain heavily involved with Carrickfergus RFC, particularly in planning for the club’s 150thanniversary celebrations next year. Ulster Rugby thanks Ian for his long and valuable service and wishes him well for the future. Ian’s voluntary service to rugby shows that you don’t need to play rugby to get involved in the life and soul of a rugby club. Volunteers are the lifeblood of our sport whether as administrators, coaches, referees, fundraisers or something else. If you would like to find out more about volunteering please email volunteer@ulsterrugby.com.

IAN BEGGS

UlsterBranch

Ian Beggs (centre) receives a plaque from Wilson Greene (Virginia RFC) prior Tuesday evening’s Clubs Committee meeting as (l-r) Denis Gardiner (Competitions Honorary Secretary), John Kinnear (Ulster Branch President) and Shane Logan (Ulster Rugby Chief Executive) look on

55

www. ulster rugby.com

ULSTER RUGBY