Trail Criú Proposal to IMRA
| Author | Date | Message |
|---|---|---|
| Maggie Lawler | Jun 26 2024, 8:13am | Dear IMRA Community, I hope this message finds you well. I am posting as a Trail Criú committee member. Many IMRA members are familiar with our group, meeting us on trails and participating in kit drives. All of your support is greatly appreciated. Yesterday, we presented a proposal that we believe can significantly enhance inclusivity and diversity within our trail running community. Our proposal includes: Sponsorship of Free Race Entries: Covering race entry fees for refugee participants to remove financial barriers and increase participation. Establishment of an Inclusion and Equity Fund: Supporting underrepresented groups through voluntary contributions at race registration. Organisation of an Inclusive Trail Running Event: Highlighting the visibility and participation of the refugee community in a dedicated event. Over the past 12 months, my co-founders and I have made several of the suggestions included in the proposal to the IMRA committee. It's important to note that IMRA isn’t an events organiser but the governing body responsible for enhancing the sport of trail running in Ireland. IMRA is not mandated to charge fees, making it even more feasible to support initiatives that remove financial barriers to participation. I’m posting this here so that the membership who are interested can stay updated, as the IMRA committee does not issue their meeting minutes. Transparency and member engagement are crucial, and I hope this platform serves as an effective way to keep everyone informed. If you’d like to read the detailed proposal or stay updated on our progress, please feel free to contact us directly at trail.criu@gmail.com. Your feedback, support, and participation in this initiative would be invaluable. Together, we can make a significant impact and ensure that our trail running community is open and accessible to all. Best regards, Maggie & Trail Criú Committee |
| Conor Murphy | Jun 29 2024, 1:23pm | I trust the lack of a response indicates that there is no opposition to any of the points made by Maggie, rather than no interest. After all, the issues she raises involve the future of the sport. We see diversity and inclusion across all sports now, including track and field. It will happen on our trails and mountains too, and Trail Criu deserve huge credit for leading the way. I have said it elsewhere, but it's worth repeating. The initiative shown by Trail Criu, Maggie, Alicia and others, the low carbon race organised by Peter O'Farrell, Niamh O'Ceallaigh reaching out to include runners with disabilities, these are very exciting developments that all IMRA members should support. A very simple step would be for IMRA to encourage everyone o like and share Trail Criu's Facebook page and see what they are doing. |
| Conor McElroy | Jul 1 2024, 11:20am | Sounds like a an interesting and worthy initiative Maggie. I'm down to RD the Glanageenty series on 14th December - I'd be happy to combine this into the race day We will have a 3rd race that day also - a 5km so most all abilities will be catered for We can do a local gear drive in the run up to the event aswell. Anecdotally a friend of mine recrntly got speaking to some refugees outside a local direct provision centre - they report being very bored most days. So she knew that there was a local coastal rowing club nearby looking for members. Anyway she brought some of the residents at the DP centre to come down to the rowing club and they hit it off, even taking part in a regatta shortly after. The rowing club were delighted to have them! |
| Maggie Lawler | Jul 2 2024, 2:51pm | Thank you Conor, that sound great. Hopefully we can arrange something IMRA the organisation will support the initiative. |
| Maggie Lawler | Jul 10 2024, 8:06pm | Dear IMRA Community, I hope this message finds you well. Two weeks ago, I sent a proposal to the IMRA committee outlining an initiative from Trail Criú to enhance inclusivity and diversity in our trail running community. Unfortunately, I have not yet received any response or even an acknowledgment that they received it. I understand it is summer holiday time, but it would still be appropriate to reply to that effect. I wanted to update you all on this for the sake of transparency and to keep a record of the communication, as the committee's meeting minutes are not published. If you have any questions or would like more details about the proposal, please feel free to contact me directly at trail.criu@gmail.com. Best regards, Maggie Lawler Trail Criú Committee & IMRA member |
| Miriam Maher | Jul 10 2024, 8:20pm | Good evening Maggie, I'm very surprised to read your post. I was copied on Louis Mullee's first reply to your email on June 25th, which was the day we received your proposal. When you queried on Monday of this week if we had received your proposal, he replied again, with an update and also and referenced his initial response. Again, I was copied on the emails. You might want to check your spam folder for his replies as your assumption that you have not been acknowledged is not actually the case. Best regards Miriam |
| Maggie Lawler | Jul 10 2024, 8:48pm | Thank You Miriam, I have found it in the spam. I look forward to hearing your response to the proposal. |
| Maggie Lawler | Jul 31 2024, 3:05pm | Dear IMRA community, I hope you are all well. For anyone interested in staying up to date with the Trail Criú proposal to IMRA you are welcome to email trail.criu@gmail.com to know more about how this is going. Thanks, Maggie |
| Warren Swords | Jul 31 2024, 3:26pm | Sure post it here where we can all stay up to date "for the sake of transparency." It's already been demonstrated on this very thread that it's a much better way to communicate as Miriam Maher was able to correct you that IMRA had indeed responded to you. |
| Maggie Lawler | Jul 31 2024, 3:34pm | No thanks Warren, absolutely not geting into this with anyone who is't actually interested in it. |
| Maggie Lawler | Sep 17 2024, 12:50pm | Dear IMRA Community, I hope this message finds you well. I’m following up with many of you who have been supporters of Trail Criú and have expressed interest in our proposal to IMRA. Throughout this process, Trail Criú has made suggestions, offered assistance, and engaged in various meetings, phone calls, and emails with both the subcommittee and the executive committee. We are disappointed that IMRA has been unable to find a way to work with us or provide support to one of the most marginalised groups in society, and has now concluded correspondence with us. We see IMRA as an important part of the mountain and trail running community, and we deeply appreciate the work that goes into organising events. It is our hope that we can work together in the future, and we remain open to collaboration. That being said, we are excited to be moving forward and exploring ways to develop Trail Criú in partnership with Athletics Ireland, the national governing body for trail and mountain running in Ireland. We’d like to extend our sincere thanks to the IMRA members who have helped with kit collection, fundraising and logistics. It’s clear that the wider IMRA community is open to fostering positive change, and we look forward to continuing to build friendships both on and off the trails in the future. Warm regards, Maggie |
| Miriam Maher | Sep 17 2024, 1:35pm | Dear Maggie We have kept our correspondence between the IMRA committee and the Trail Criú committee between ourselves to date, aside from including Athletics Ireland in recent times. I am very disappointed that you have chosen to present a highly selective and one-sided account of why this correspondence was ended by us in recent times. As you have chosen to present the information this way and on this forum, I would like to note some points of fact. We were aware from our own contact with Athletics Ireland of the pathway they could offer your organisation and supported that they follow up with you on this. We are very glad that this pathway is now being developed for the benefit of your members. We ended our correspondence with your committee because you refused on more than one occasion to take up our offer to meet with you and your fellow committee members. Your post suggested otherwise. That is not the case. Your reasons for refusing to do so was you stated that any such meeting would not be documented. This was despite us assuring you that us making ourselves available for a meeting would be alongside ongoing correspondence as required. In doing so, you indicated a lack of trust and respect for us as a committee of volunteers and as people and we did not see a productive way forward on that basis. We will continue to welcome members of Trail Criú along with all other people interested in taking part in our races. IMRA like all sporting organizations operates with the ethos of ‘together in sport’ in all that we do. We will continue to be this way, regardless of what posts are put on this forum that may suggest otherwise. Miriam Maher IMRA President |
| Maggie Lawler | Sep 17 2024, 2:59pm | Dear Miriam, From what I gather, despite holding multiple Zoom meetings with the inclusion subcommittee, having phone discussions with yourself, and exchanging numerous emails, the reason given for not supporting the Trail Criú seems to be that we did not meet in person. Is that correct? It is true that we specifically requested that our correspondence be kept in writing, and this was intentional. In previous in-person meetings, no minutes were taken, and the suggestions we made were not implemented, leaving us feeling overlooked. Therefore, we felt it was important to have written records of all discussions for transparency and accountability. Given that we had already met in various forms and shared our views multiple times, we find it disappointing and somewhat disrespectful to be asked to meet in person again, especially when our concerns had not been addressed previously. We hope that Trail Criú members will continue to be welcomed within the IMRA community, as we are all members working towards the same goals. |
| Richard Fox | Sep 17 2024, 5:12pm | Hello Maggie. Just wondering if you could set up a separate WhatsApp group for the many IMRA members that are interested in your various proposals?? I’m very new to the mountain running concept but very aged in respect to years lived. Although new to IMRA I have been around a few different sporting bodies and I have never before come across anything like IMRA, what it offers, the people involved the competitions it organises, the inclusivity it offers, the voluntary nature of all members inc Joe Soaps like me and Committee members who do extraordinary work for all our pleasure. There’s so much more. Anyway to be honest, at my age, I’m tired of negativity and squabbling individuals who are perhaps looking for more attention than they deserve so please, please set up a separate WhatsApp group and argue the toss among yourselves, come and enjoy the IMRA events and creativity as much as I do and let’s all get on with the beauty of living life in some sort of harmony. Cheers and thanks foxy |
| Brendan Lawlor | Sep 17 2024, 8:18pm | Hi Maggie That’s great that you have found a more appropriate avenue of financial support for your various proposals. Best of luck with it. |
| Lorcan Farrell | Sep 17 2024, 10:10pm | Dear Maggie, I hope this message finds you well. Delighted you've found the appropriate avenue for your endeavors. As it always has been , IMRA remains open and welcoming to anyone who wishes to race, volunteer and/or share the love of Irelands hills and mountains. Warm Regards, Lorcan |
| Alicia Christofi-Walshe | Sep 18 2024, 6:32pm | Hi all, Alicia here from Trail Criú. Just to clarify, Maggie is speaking on behalf of Trail Criú here and not in a personal capacity. We very much appreciate her taking on our communications with IMRA. Richard, for future, netiquette can be found under the Constitution tab on IMRA'S home page. Brendan and Lorcan, thank you for your posts. We are very excited about our partnership with Athletics Ireland. A very willing, rather than more appropriate, partner. Kind regards, Alicia |
| John Garry Moore | Oct 8 2024, 7:07pm | So who else is tapering for the WWR? :) |
