IrelandOffline Announcement

dahamsta

Dear IrelandOffline Members,

I'm sorry to announce that our fearless leader, Martin Harran, has decided to step down as the Chairman of IrelandOffline. Martin's business committments have been growing in recent times, and he feels that this may begin to interfere with his ability to drive our organisation forward in what is becoming a crucial time in it's existance; therefore he has offered his resignation.

The Committee has accepted Martin's resignation, and in turn Martin has accepted an invitation to remain on the Committee. Our Vice Chairman, David Long, has stepped up to fill the void left by Martin until our Annual General Meeting in May. David has been very proactive as the Vice Chairman, and the Committee is happy to see him taking the Chair and already bossing us about good-oh. We hope that this will continue.

The Committee would like to ask the membership to join us in thanking Martin for his contribution to our organisation; wishing him the best of luck in his business ventures; and welcoming Dave to his new position as acting Chairman.

Martin has also resigned as Chairman of the Lobbbying Working Group, and I have taken up this position temporarily. I will be posting more on this later tonight.

Thanks,
adam

o_donnel_abu

As you may already have seen in Adam's announcement, I have resigned as Chairman of IrelandOffline due to extremely heavy work commitments.

This does not lessen my support for IrelandOffline in any way. Those of you who have been around from the start will recall that I originally took on the job on an "acting" capacity when the organisation ran into teething problems and looked like it wasn't going to get off the ground. I stayed on longer than I really intended as our campaign gained momentum faster than we could ever have hoped for, and I was afraid that a change of leadership could prove disruptive at that critical stage when we were establishing a credible profile.

I am extremely proud of how IOFFL has developed from such humble beginnings only 10 months ago to the stage where it is quoted in the "Breaking News" section of the Irish times website in response to a government announcement. This shows the credibility we have achieved, that we are indeed the authoritative voice of the "ordinary" Internet user in Ireland. I take great personal satisfaction from my own contribution to helping this come about. I have always maintained, however, that the true test of a good leader is that they know when to stand aside. That time has now come for me; to continue as Chairman with my limited time availability would only harm the organisation.

The one concern I always had about standing down was that my replacement would be capable of taking IOFFL to even further success. That concern has been laid to rest with David Long agreeing to take on the role until the AGM. David and I have worked very closely since the early days of this campaign, he took part in all the various meetings with key players and I know that his commitment, knowledge and enthusiasm will drive the campaign forward.

On a personal note, I would like to thank the committee for their help and support during my tenure - the people at the front of an organisation get the publicity, but it is always the people behind the scenes who really make things happen - and their tolerance during recent months when I have not been available for lengthy periods. I would also like to thank all the members who have contributed so much to getting us to where we are and a
special thanks to all those members who sent me personal messages of support at various times.

As I said, my support for IOFFL has not waned in the least and I am delighted to continue as a committee member. To avoid confusion going forward for people who only visit this board occasionally, this will be my last post as "O_Donnel_Abu" on this forum - in future, I will be posting as "DonegalMan"


Martin Harran

Dangger

I would like to express my appreciation and that of the committee for the tremendous work that Martin has done to lead IrelandOffline up to and including this point in its development. Not least of course the great work he put in to organising and chairing the seminar which was crucial to our progress. These certainly are big shoes to step into, and all I can do is my very best to achieve our agreed objectives. To get there I will of course be relying on the support of an active and enthusiastic membership.

The coming weeks will be of great importance to our campaign. In each of your constituencies you should seize opportunites to get at your electioneering Dáil candidates with the IrelandOffline message. The much delayed Telecommunications Bill looks likely to get its airing, finally! As you are likely to know by now however the bill appears to have had some alterations to it of late, few of which appear to be of any benefit to us. Remember, when they come banging at your door looking for your vote bug 'em with the IrelandOffline message!

David Long

Ruu_Old

Im sure im speaking for everyone in the forum when i say.. Good luck Martin Well done in all the great work u and IOFL have achieved ...the best bits are yet to come

Boston

awh well, family and job come first, then everything else.

best of luck,

obewan

Like wise I wish you the best of luck, and express my gratitude for all your hard work.


Mick.

rymus

sorry to hear youre stepping down Martin. Great credit is due to you for bringing IrelandOffline this far. Its a bit of a cliché I know, but the next chairman surely has big shoes to fill

yellum

The best of luck Martin. You did a wonderful job.

rymus: u know what they say about ppl with big shoes ....

Dustaz

Thanks for the hard work Martin, it is MUCH appreciated

And good luck David:)

PiE

What they said^

Lemming

Thanks for bring Ireland Offline to where it is today Martin, and the best of luck with what you do next

sceptre

Thanks for all your hard work up to now Martin (not leaving out the trojan work done by others obviously)

Sorry to see you step down as chair, all for the best as you say, glad you're going to stay on the committee and retain an input.

We've come a long way with you as chairman, being taken seriously as a lobby group, the meetings with the Minister and department, the various telcos.

Hopefully we'll go even further in the future towards achieving our aims.

I personally wish you well & glad that you're sticking around, even in the face of other things taking up your time.

Xian

Martin,

Thanks for the hard work.

If O_Donnell_Abu is no more, his epitaph must surely be "Ladies and gentlemen of Eircom - have you lost the plot completely?"

DonegalMan

Originally posted by Xian
If O_Donnell_Abu is no more, his epitaph must surely be "Ladies and gentlemen of Eircom - have you lost the plot completely?"

Wish you'd suggested that whilst I still was O_Donnel_Abu, would have been a class signature

Thanks for all kind comments, everyone

Martin

DonegalMan

Decided to adopt it anyway

Martin

Boston

I was waiting for him to ask

"what are ye man, some kind a simp like, it a daze like."

-ADREN-

Gluck m8, enjoy.