It’s been a busy introduction to Committeeland for the newcomers and its more experienced citizens alike. Here’s a quick update on what we’ve been working on recently.

First and foremost the Christmas Party looks like it’s going to be a great night. Tickets are almost all gone, it’s your last chance to get one (and pay!) this Thursday night at the pool. The party kicks off at 7.30pm sharp in ALSAA next Saturday (9th December).

For those of you who have been in the boat shed lately, you may have noticed a curious looking blue box sitting behind M1. It is in fact our new compressor. It’s a Coltri-Sub MCH 16ET Compact to be precise! We managed to secure this almost-new piece of equipment for about half the list price. It was repossessed by a supplier in the U.K. from an unfortunate commercial operation that ceased trading. It came to our attention through the wonders of EBay and comes with only 8 hours operating time on the clock. It will fill a 15 litre bottle in just over 10 minutes, there’s a big green button to start it, it drains itself automatically and it stops itself automatically. There is still a small amount of work to be done to get it fully operational so please don’t use it until we get the all clear from John Norton.

Hopefully you have seen the post on the new pool day and time starting in January. It was not possible to keep the same night and schedule an earlier time, so we had to opt for a Wednesday night session instead. Attendance at the pool recently has been good, hopefully it will get even better now with the earlier time.

We have lodged an application for National Lottery Grant aid for 2007 (aka Sports Capital Programme). We haven’t had much luck in the past with this fund so our hopes aren’t high. However, there’s a first time for everything so fingers crossed. Our application is for new equipment so that we can make Nitrox more accessible to all Club divers within the club. Our thanks go to all those who provided letters of support for our application: CFT, Fingal Sports Partnership, L’Arche Ireland, The Irish Sub-Aqua Club, Sean Ryan T.D., Councillor Darragh O’Brien and Howth Coast Guard. The successful applicants will be announced sometime mid-2007.

We have been looking in to means other than email to get club announcements out. Bulk text services on the web seem to be the best option. This will allow us to easily send a text to everyone’s mobile phone. We hope to have this service up and running early in the new year. The club will have to pay a small amount per text but if it helps get the information out to everyone then it’s worth while.

Enjoy the party, have a happy Christmas and safe diving for 2007

PSAC Committee.