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Dennis
Whelan, Honorary Treasurer of The Ireland Funds, was presented with The Bird & Bell
award at an Ireland Funds’ Advisory Committee
Meeting held in The Merrion Hotel on 25th May 2005
to mark his retirement from the Board.
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any photo to send as an ecard!
Dennis is resigning from the
board later this year. He is a founding member of
The Ireland Funds and has been an active member of
the Board since its foundation. Dennis will remain
on The Funds Advisory Committee. He was also honoured
with the distinction of becoming a Patron of The
Ireland Funds in Ireland along with fellow founding
board member, Mairtin McCullough.
Joining Dennis at the
presentation was his wife, Annette, his son David
and daughter in law, Christine who is a new member
of The Funds’ Advisory
Committee.
Speaking at the presentation Chairman Dr Maurice
Hayes paid tribute to Dennis on behalf of everybody
involved on the Advisory Committee and said that
Dennis had contributed enormously to the work of
The Ireland Funds, he had scrutinized every grant
ever made and it was a great testament to him and
a mark of his hard work that no monies ever went
astray.
Dennis was kind enough to pause and reflect on his
time with The Ireland Funds going back three decades:
Memories : Dennis Whelan
Is
it really 30 years since Mairtin Mc Cullough, Lord
Ben and I voyaged to New York on a fundraising mission
for an Irish Charity. We had thought that our own ‘travelling Lord’ would open
doors for us. In the event, after two days in the
Big Apple, our efforts had amassed the sum of $5,
given to us by a sympathetic barman. However I produced
a trump card in an invitation to Pittsburgh and a
visit to Tony O’Reilly which brought our total
to $25,005.
The following year, Lady
Valerie Goulding, Judy Hayes and I, representing
three distinct charities, bearded O’Reilly in New York. We were duly
paid off with an admonishment, “Depart from
me ye cursed mendicants” he vouchsafed, and
form yourselves into a Committee at home and we will
see what will evolve here, on fundraising for Ireland.
Enter Dan Rooney, another
trip to Pittsburgh, Chicago, Boston and other states
with Doreen Mullen singing. We had endeavoured
to get Tony to sing a duet “Climb
Upon My Knee Sunny Boy” but, despite knowing
the complete works of Gilbert & Sullivan, we
were unable to get the rhyming couplet into his head.
A highlight for me was playing with a jazz trio in
the lovely Mellon home on back to back grand Steinways
(after the performance I was told not to give up
the day job) with 200 guests being wined and dined
and introduced to The Funds.
The rest is history, it
was fun all the way, with Judy running the office,
Mairtin chairing and me as Hon Treasurer—Jim
Sherwin joined as chairman later et al.
While experience has shown that casting your bread
on the water can give soggy bread, it is not so in
U.S.A. territorial waters.
Your achievements have been staggering. I have been
privileged to have been part of what evolved through
the Herculean efforts of Tony and Dan initially,
and later many others. So many friends from the first
Chairman and wife, Bill and Pat Burke of Boston to
the legions of kind, hospitable and charitable Americans.
You saw us through the troubles of our country,
and gave us hope, solace, and support during those
crucial years.
It has been my pleasure to have been Hon Treasurer
for so many years.
Remember ask not what posterity can do for you,
but....
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