Name – The name of the Association shall be the “Trinity Retirement Association”, abbreviated to “TRA”, and hereinafter called “the Association”.
Objectives
The objectives of the Association shall be
to promote a focal point for retired staff members to meet and engage in educational, cultural, sporting and social activities;
to promote a spirit of self-help and independence and to encourage members to use their energy, talents, skills, knowledge and experience to benefit each other and the College
to encourage positive attitudes to ageing and retirement;
to provide general information of interest to members.
Membership and Subscriptions
Membership shall be open to any retired member formerly employed by the University of Dublin Trinity College (“the College”) and their respective Spouse/Partner. Membership shall, at the absolute discretion of the Executive Committee, be extended to former employees of other organisations affiliated to the College (e.g. Academic Teaching Hospitals), and their respective Spouse/Partner, where it can be demonstrated that the applicant had a substantive and meaningful employment connection with the College during their career.
Members shall agree to abide by the Constitution.
A record shall be kept of names, addresses and other contact details of the members which shall be kept up-to-date. The use of these details shall be restricted to the business of the Association.
A membership subscription, subject to annual review, shall be levied on every member.
For the purposes of membership, the Association year shall be from 1st January to 31st
Where a Spouse/Partner of a former staff member becomes a member of the Association, s/he must also pay the annual membership subscription fee.
The annual subscription covers the calendar year. The subscription falls due on 1st January and must be paid no later than 1st Should a member not pay the membership fee by 1st March, their name shall be removed from the membership list and, in such circumstances, the member will be precluded from voting in any Annual General Meeting or Extraordinary General Meeting of the Association or participating in any Association-affiliated activities. Anyone who has been so deleted from the membership list can be reinstated on payment of the appropriate fee for the full year.
At the absolute discretion of the Executive Committee, the annual membership fee payable by members retiring from the College in a particular calendar year shall be waived for the remainder of that calendar year.
Executive Committee
There shall be an Executive Committee to carry out the policy of the Association and to provide for its day-to-day administration and management. It shall consist of the following Officers: Chairperson, Secretary, Treasurer (whose respective duties are set out at Article 5), and not more than six ordinary Committee Members.
The Executive Committee shall be elected by the Association’s members at the first Annual General Meeting and at each subsequent Annual General Meeting thereafter. To be eligible for election as an Officer, other than for the inaugural Annual General Meeting, a member must have served on the Executive for at least one year. Please see Article 11.2 regarding the first Executive Committee following the Inaugural Meeting of the Association on 8 April 2014.
Members of the Executive Committee may remain on the Committee as Officers for no longer than three consecutive terms of one year. Thereafter, such members shall only be re-eligible for election as Officers after the elapse of a further calendar year.
Should an Officer or a Committee Member not be present at Committee Meetings over a period of 7 consecutive calendar months, and notwithstanding the reason for such absence, they shall be automatically deemed to have resigned.
In the case of any Office becoming vacant, the Committee shall appoint one of its ordinary members to fill this Officer post.
In the case of vacancies arising among the ordinary members on the Committee, the Committee shall co-opt that individual who shall have received the next highest vote to the last person elected to that position at the previous Annual General Meeting of the Association. In the event of that person being unavailable or unwilling to take up the position, the Committee shall co-opt that person with the next highest number of votes and so on until the position has been filled. If the vacancy cannot be filled in this manner, any Association member in good standing can be co-opted by a majority decision of the Committee to fill the vacancy;
Where no Executive Committee can be formed, incumbent Officers may remain in position for at most one further year.
The Executive Committee shall meet at least once each quarter.
Meetings shall be convened by the Secretary by decision of the Executive Committee, or at the written request of any three members of the Executive Committee.
A quorum for meetings of the Executive Committee at which a motion may be passed by majority vote shall be six.
In the event of a tied motion vote at an Executive Committee Meeting, the Chairperson (or, where applicable, the Acting Chairperson), shall have the casting vote.
Decisions of the Executive Committee may be reversed by a simple majority of those present and voting at a General Meeting of the Association.
The Executive Committee shall have the sole right to appoint, and stand-down, sub-committees as required and to co-opt members to serve on such sub-committees. It shall also have the power, where necessary, to co-opt non-members.
The Executive Committee shall hold office until the following Annual General Meeting.
Any Officer or ordinary member of the Executive Committee may be removed from their position before the completion of their terms of office only by the conditions set out in Article 6.11 below
The Officers
All Officers shall be answerable to the Executive Committee.
The responsibilities of the Chairperson shall include:
Chairing of meetings of the Executive Committee and General or Extraordinary Meetings of the Association;
Responsibility for reviewing and signing minutes of Meetings;
Acting as an Authorised Co-Signatory for bank account transactions;
Responsibility for the legal affairs of the Association. This includes the constitutional affairs of the Executive Committee and ensuring that all members abide by the provisions of the constitution;
Nominating a member of the Executive Committee to act as Chairperson in his/her absence;
Liaising periodically with external bodies not covered in the brief of other Officers;
Delegating appropriately any other duties to ordinary members as are seen fit;
Reporting to the Annual General Meeting.
The Treasurer is the custodian of the Association’s funds. The responsibilities of the Treasurer shall include:
All financial matters of the Association;
The efficient and effective controlling of the finances of the Association and the prompt depositing of all funds in a recognised Irish Bank Account in the name of the Association;
All dealings with banks and other financial institutions in conjunction with the Chairperson;
Pay all bills accruing within a reasonable time;
Act as an Authorised Co-Signatory for bank account transactions;
Keep an itemized account of receipts and disbursements and make an up-to-date report at every Committee Meeting on the status of the Association’s Bank Account;
Preparation of the Annual Accounts in a timely fashion;
Reporting to the Annual General Meeting;
The responsibilities of the Secretary shall include:
Preparing Minutes and Notices of all meetings;
Circulating Notice and Agenda for General Meetings, together with minutes of the previous General Meeting, at least fourteen days in advance;
Carrying out the instructions of the Chairperson and the Annual General Meeting;
Promptly actioning all correspondence received from members;
Maintaining an accurate and up-to-date secure Membership Register of members;
Making the necessary preparations for elections and recording the voting process;
The keeping and proper archiving of Committee Records;
Acting as ‘gatekeeper’ for secure access to the Association’s official e-mail accounts;
Delegating appropriately any other duties to ordinary members as are seen fit;
Acting as an Authorised Co-Signatory for bank account transactions;
Reporting to the Annual General Meeting.
General Meetings
The Annual General Meetings (AGM) of the Association shall take place during Hilary Term.
Extraordinary General Meetings (EGM) of the Association shall be convened by The Secretary by decision of the Executive Committee, or at the written request of at least twenty current members of the Association in good standing.
Not less than fourteen days notice shall be given to members of all General Meetings.
Twenty current members in good standing shall constitute a quorum at an Annual General Meeting or an Extraordinary General Meeting of the Association. Inquorate meetings may transact no business other than that contained in parts (a) to (d) of the Agenda as set out in Article 6.5, and may not take a vote on any matter.
The procedure at General Meetings shall be as follows: (a) Minutes of the previous General Meeting; (b) Matters arising from the Minutes; (c) Reports of The Officers; (d) Matters arising from these Reports; (e) Motions to amend the Constitution (see Article 11 below); (f) Elections (see Article 7 below); (g) Motions; (h) Any Other Business.
Any current member of the Association in good standing shall be entitled to table motions under parts (e) & (g) of the Agenda, on giving not less than seven days prior written notice to The Secretary to the Association. Such motions shall be distributed to members at the Meeting.
No motions shall be entertained at a General Meeting, save as provided for at Article 6.5, unless they constitute valid amendments to such motions.
All motions must be proposed and seconded by current members of the Association in good standing.
Motions are carried by simple majority of those members of the Association present and voting.
A motion to adjourn or suspend standing orders (as noted at 6.5 above) may be introduced at any time, but requires a 2/3 majority of those members present and voting to be carried.
A motion to impeach an Officer or Member of the Executive Committee shall require a 2/3 majority of those members of the Association present and voting to be carried.
The Chairperson, or Acting Chairperson in the Chairperson’s absence, shall keep order at General Meetings and the Chair’s decisions on matters of order shall be final.
All current members of the Association shall be entitled to attend and vote at General Meetings provided they are in good standing and are fully paid-up members.
Elections
Only current members of the Association in good standing shall have votes at elections of the Association.
No member may hold more than one vote.
All elections shall be held by ballot.
At the AGM, the Chairperson, the Secretary, the Treasurer and the six ordinary members of the Executive Committee, who are to be elected, shall be elected in that order for the following year.
Nominations for Officer or Executive Committee members must be made in writing and received by The Secretary not less than seven days before the date of the Annual General Meeting. All nominations must be proposed by two current members of the Association in good standing, having received the consent of the nominee.
If only one nomination is received for an Officer, then a “yes/no” ballot shall take place to ensure that s/he is acceptable to a majority of the ordinary membership present at an AGM. If the position is not filled, a new election shall take place immediately.
Further to 7.6 above, if no further nominations received from the floor, or if a further rejection takes place, the election to fill that post shall be carried over to an EGM held no later than 4 weeks following the AGM.
If no nominations for any of the positions on the Executive Committee are received, then the sitting Executive Committee may remain as set out in Article 4.7 above.
The new Committee shall take office within seven days of the election.
Finance Matters
The personal property of the Association shall vest in the Chairperson, Secretary and Treasurer for the time being of the Association and they shall hold such property in trust for the Association.
The Executive Committee shall open a bank account on behalf of the Association and all transactions on this account shall be authorised by any two of the three officers (Chairperson, Treasurer, Secretary).
Correct accounts and books shall be kept showing the financial affairs and the receipts and disbursements of the Association.
The financial year for the Association shall be 1st January to 31stDecember each year.
Insurance Matters
The Executive Committee has not effected an Insurance Policy in respect of any of the activities of the Association or Association-affiliated Member Events.
For Association-affiliated Member Events held on the premises of the College, Association members must at all times adhere to College Health & Safety Policies and abide by the directions of duly authorised College Staff. General Meetings on College premises will be covered only under the terms of the College’s Public Liability Insurance Policy in a manner analogous to that for affiliated extramural activities undertaken on College premises by members of the general public.
For Association-affiliated Member Events not held on College premises, Association members acknowledge and accept that the Association does not hold insurance cover for members participating in such events, nor for travel to/from such events, and that the Association and its Officers have absolutely no liability whatsoever in this regard.
Matters concerning affiliation to the University of Dublin, Trinity College
The Association acknowledges and accepts that the University of Dublin, Trinity College is the owner of the trademark “Trinity” and retains, at its sole discretion, the right to withdraw permission for the use of this trademark name in the context of the Association’s name.
The Association acknowledges and accepts that it operates on a self-governing and self-financing basis and is entirely independent of the University of Dublin, Trinity College.
The Association acknowledges and accepts that it holds no formal representation or negotiating rights with the Board, Council or Senate of the University of Dublin Trinity College, its Officers or its Agents.
Adoption of Constitution
This constitution will be binding as and from the Inaugural Meeting of the Association on 8 April 2014 subject to the approval by simple majority of the prospective Association members present.
Subject to the approval by simple majority of the prospective Association members present at the Inaugural Meeting of the Association on 8 April 2014, the Steering Group of the Trinity Retirement Association in place immediately prior to the Inaugural Meeting of 8 April 2014 shall serve as the pro-tem Executive Committee until the first Annual General Meeting.
The pro-tem Executive Committee, as outlined at Article 11.2, shall elect individuals from its membership to initially serve as Chairperson, Treasurer and Secretary in a pro-tem capacity until the first Annual General Meeting in Hilary Term.
Changes to the Constitution
Amendments to this Constitution may only be made at a General Meeting of the Association and not by the Executive Committee.
Ordinarily, notice of a motion to amend the Constitution must be communicated in writing to the Secretary, with the names of the proposer and seconder, not less than 7 days prior to the AGM or EGM at which it is to be proposed. Amendments may only be proposed and seconded by current members of the Association in good standing.
Details of any proposed amendments at the request of the Executive Committee shall be circulated to members by The Secretary at least fourteen days prior to the General Meeting.
Amendments shall be carried by a two-thirds majority of the current members of the Association present and voting.
Amendments to the Constitution shall become effective immediately following the vote at which such amendments have been approved.
Interpretation
The Executive Committee shall, subject to the authority of a General Meeting, be the authority for the interpretation of the Constitution and shall have full power to decide, by simple majority decision, on any matter not provided for in this Constitution.
Any such determinations shall be binding unless reversed by a motion put to a General Meeting of the Association.
