At the meeting of Tuesday, November 8th, our charming and most genial Club President
Eilish Ui Bhriain promised all of the many members and most welcome guests present an exuberant and entertaining occasion. This promise was most amply and richly fulfilled in an evening of eloquence and delightful expression, the pleasure of uplifting listening and the cordial atmosphere of all of us gathered together in good cheer and bonhomie. We gather in warmth of heart and mutual generosity of spirit to build each other up and to enhance our talents by using them to the full and finding within ourselves the joy of creative energy and a powerful source of inner brightness and happiness.
Proceedings were guided smoothly with effective and free-flowing continuity by our toastmaster or chairman Denis O’Brien, one of our new members who fulfilled his task with relaxed confidence and accomplished skill. Every member gets a chance in their turn to chair the meeting, an invaluable opportunity to gain proficiency in leadership by upholding those finely balanced procedures that ensures every voice is heard and that all have their input into the making of a beautiful celebration of the arts of communication.
Fanahan Colbert came to the lectern to assume the role of Topicsmaster with grace and conviviality, explaining for the benefit of our guests that each initial response is up to two minutes’ duration with one minute subsequent add-ons which make for a truly lively and effervescent meeting. Among so much else we were treated to a diverse range of themes from Ireland’s smashing rugby victory over the New Zealand All-Blacks, the role of the FBI in the recent American Presidential election, remembering the rich social life of so many Fermoy’s traditional pubs that have closed since the 1970s, to the influence that TV celebrity chefs have over their audience which drew from David Walsh the observation that he pays no heed to them at all and instead hugely prefers the preparation of good plain and delicious food which form one of life’s greatest pleasures, a response that drew a warm and full-hearted response from his listeners for which he was accorded the Best Topics ribbon of the night.
A good topics session sets a warmly receptive atmosphere for the set speeches to follow. These presentations are not given from a written text, but instead are written in the mind and delivered with minimal notes or ideally none at all, usually within a seven minute timeframe as delineated by a system of green, amber and red lights operated by the Timekeeper. Indeed the very finest speeches come straight from the heart.
Clare Guy began telling of her early childhood curiosity in the natural world, which received further stimulus when she came to watch the brilliant BBC documentaries of David Attenborough which led her on the path to a scientific career and to a passionately-advocated love of nature, emphasising the need for bio-diversity and sustainable development along with the dependence of Ireland’s prosperity on the food production sector and the scenic beauties of our island that draw so many tourists to our shores. The natural environment is our living heritage, placing on all of us the solemn but exciting responsibility to cherish and safeguard it for ourselves and those who come after us which formed the core of Clare’s inspiring message.
Mind Your Language was the title of Tim Fitzgerald’s very compelling talk on our use of words, expressing concern on how jargon and text-speak have come to saturate our culture, taking away something precious for words bear the imprint of who and what we are. Delivered with great enthusiasm and conviction, this was a highly accomplished speech that made us all aware of the precious things that words are as the vehicles of our thoughts, our noblest feelings and ideals and of everything that is best and good about being human.
Padraig Murphy addressed just a few aspects of the immense diversity of human personality types, focussing on the contrast between the well-organised, neat and precise person and the relaxed, spontaneous, hang-loose individual who just goes with the moment. Producing two pieces of paper illustrating these striking contrasts and placing one on either side of the room, Padraig nimbly and adroitly veered from one to the other while he spoke illustrating how both types live within all of us not in mutually exclusive contradiction but subtly and creatively coming together in the formation of the well-balanced and mature personality. With Padraig as with all our speakers, the more often we speak, the better we all become on the path to ever greater achievement and reward.
Finally, we had Michael Sheehan who returned to the natural world and particularly the life of bees, bringing us in imagination inside the buzzing world of the hive, throwing a revealing light on the crucial role that ese fascinating insects play in plant pollination, on the many and varied uses of honey as a sweetener, beauty treatment, ancient healing balm of wounds and key ingredient of the alcoholic beverage mead. If kept in an airtight container, honey will last indefinitely further enhancing the sense of mystery that surrounds this liquid sunshine. Michael’s presentation was a triumph of research and given in a style that was such a truly mellifluous listening pleasure.
The evaluators Trisha Neilan, Jerry Hennessy, Johanna Hegarty and Frank O’Driscoll all gave positive, thoughtful and illuminating assessments of the speakers’ performances, with a very fine overall impression of the meeting from General Evaluator John Sherlock. And so we concluded an especially memorable and delightful occasion and now look joyfully forward to our next meeting on this coming Tuesdayevening, November 22nd, at 8.15 pm in the Fermoy Youth Centre. For further information, please contact Eilish Ui Bhriain at 087 1235203 or Kevin Walsh at 058 60100 or log on to our mobile-friendly website toastmastersfermoy.com or find us on Twitter @ FermoyT.
On the night the Fermoy Youth Centre needed our regular lectern as a theatrical prop and kindly substituted with their own bearing the legend The Palace Theatre evoking that time when this centre flourished both as a cinema and music hall where so many productions of the Fermoy Choral Society were staged, as they still are. A place of entertainment over very many years before becoming the permanent recreational centre for local youth, its walls have seen so many wonderful and happy occasions. And now as our new venue for our Toastmasters meetings, it continues to be a place of that very special eloquence, friendship, personal growth and immense enjoyment that comes with membership of our cherished club.