THERE was a good turnout of riders, officials and associates at the Eventing Ireland Northern Region AGM held at Gourley’s Bar, Ballygowan, last Tuesday week.

The meeting was conducted by Regional Chair, Georgia Stubington, who, having welcomed everyone, called for a minute’s silence in memory of Brian Lusk who had died two days earlier. Brian’s passing is a sad loss to the equestrian community in Ireland and beyond.

Dora Beacom’s extensive and uplifting Event Co-Ordinator’s report had been circulated prior to the meeting, along with the Treasurer’s report.

Said Treasurer, John McBride, advised that there had been a few changes within the Eventing Ireland Northern Region company. Elizabeth Hamilton has retired as a director, and he thanked her very much for all her long years of service. There have been two new directors appointed, Claire Palmer and Lawrence Patterson. The Company Secretary has been changed from Catherine McDowell to McBride, along with the registered company address.

McBride reported that 2025 saw a great increase in turnover, primarily because the Region was able to run a full programme of affiliated and unaffiliated events. Entries were well up and more much-appreciated sponsorship had been attracted. Expenditure for events obviously increased due to more events running, but there were certain areas that have reduced. He pointed out that HSI High Performance levies were not charged for last year, and that helped in the cost of affiliated events, which have made a small surplus compared to other years.

The Chairman then presented her report for 2025, which was an extraordinary year for the Northern Region of Eventing Ireland for many reasons. The Region ran 16 events without loss to the weather, and in fact, only had one miserable day at Glenpatrick. With 3,169 entries, many events were full houses which put more stress on the organisation.

Running events is the Region’s mission, but this aim can’t be achieved without landowners and so Stubington thanked John and Hannah Corbett, Ian and Alison Wilson, Andrew and Laura Napier, Declan and Becky Cullen, David and Elaine O’Connor and the extended Turley family, the Dennison family, Alan and Marion Campbell and Britt and Anne Megahey, many of whom ran multiple fixtures.

The Chairman went on to thank the seemingly tireless Dora Beacom, the endless list of volunteers, many of whom are not even members, stewards, controllers, commentators, dressage judges, show jumping judges, scribes, course designers and builders, cross-country fence judges, call-up stewards, starters and finishers, scorers and the various hospitality crews - all of whom are an integral part of the organisation. She also paid tribute to the time and effort that Adam Stevenson put into Northern Region events over 15 years, working long hours, sometimes with only Holly’s company.

She thanked Catherine McDowell for her 20-year service as Honorary Secretary and Elizabeth Hamilton for her 40-plus years of service as a committee member and Treasurer. The Chairman presented Elizabeth with flowers and a small gift.

https://foto.ifj.ie/fotoweb/archives/5006-Irish-Horse-World/Irish%20Horse%20World/2020/Casey%20Webb%20on%20Ballygreenan%20Break%20Point%20winner%20EI115.jpg.info#c=%2Ffotoweb%2Farchives%2F5006-Irish-Horse-World%2F%3Fq%3Dcasey%2520webb

Casey Webb, pictured here winning the EI115 at Hazeldene last year, has been elected to the committee of the Northern Region \ Sporting Images NI

The election to Committee was then conducted. Denis Currie, Ronnie Beggs, Jean Mitchell and Georgia Stubington were proposed en bloc and were duly elected. There were also two nominations for new members to the committee, Catherine McDowell and Casey Webb, who were proposed, seconded and duly elected.

The final part of the evening’s business was the presentation of the following special awards. The John Martin Award, which is given to someone who contributes to the advancement and promotion of the sport was presented by Jill Martin. The 2025 winner was Declan Cullen, who unfortunately couldn’t attend and the Chairman accepted the award on his behalf.

The Pooler Trophy for international performance was presented by Caroline Keatley. This was awarded to Cally Berry on behalf of her daughter, Susie. The Stinson Award is given to someone who contributes to the sport by effort, endeavour and example. The 2025 winner was one of the cross-country starters, John Melvin, who worked at all the events last year, bar one. Catherine Abbott accepted the trophy on his behalf.

The Irwin Trophy for the leading owner/breeder in 2025 was Jan Martin for the 2016 Irish Sport Horse gelding Meadowbank (Scrapman - Drumreagh Diva, by Perpendicular). The Ruth Eyre Pugh groom’s award is presented to someone who is nominated by a rider and who goes that extra mile to help. The 2025 winner was Brian Morgan, groom for his daughter Ros, who was the recipient of the Bright Outlook Amateur Trophy awarded by Nicky and Richard Nesbitt to the rider who most epitomises the ethos of amateur eventing.

The Chairman thanked everyone for attending and invited them to take tea, coffee and refreshments. This concluded the meeting.