A dispute over the running of Killarney Golf and Fishing Club, one of the best known golf clubs in Ireland and a former Irish Open venue, is set to deepen this month.
Two annual general meetings have been called at the club - one by the captain and the other by the secretary of the club company.
The club captain, Mr Pat Courtney, has written to 1,700 members, asking them not to attend the company's annual general meeting next Friday night called by the secretary, Mr Tom Prendergast. However, the company is refusing to recognise the annual general meeting called by the captain and vice-captain, Mr Tom Cooper. Both meetings are to take place a week apart in the Great Southern Hotel in Killarney.
According to one senior club source, there has been a feeling among some club members that the company has been getting "more and more powerful, and members had less and less say in the operation of the facility".
The lands on which the club is situated were formerly part of the Kenmare estate. In the late 1930s Lord Castlerosse set up a company to manage the club. He and his family retained over 75 per cent ownership. The rest of the shares, including preferential shares, were owned by a London associate, former MP Reginald Pubrick, and by local Killarney people.
In the 1970s, the 75 per cent stake held by the Kenmares was transferred to Bord Failte, which, in turn transferred it in trust to trustees, some of whom were company directors.
In addition some of the trustees of the Bord Failte shares also own ordinary shares in the company. Senior Bord Failte personnel are understood to be taking legal advice at the request of the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism, Mr O'Donoghue, who is a TD in the constituency, to see if they can become involved in sorting out the dispute.
An extraordinary general meeting called by a core group of 30 of the members before Christmas led to a new constitution "to correct anomalies in the constitution to ensure it met the requirement of registration of clubs and the mandatory rules of the GUI", according to one member of the club.
The company has refused to recognise the new constitution. At one former annual general meeting members put down a motion alleging the current arrangements for the bar between Killarney Golf Club Ltd and the Golf and Fishing Club resulted in a failure to comply with the Intoxicating Liquor Acts and the Registration of Clubs Act.
The new constitution has corrected that alleged anomaly, members say. "We narrowly missed being accused of operating a shebeen," according to one member.
At a press conference two years ago, the company issued a list of trustees and shareholders. It was taking measures to ensure 99 per cent of shares would be held in trust, it said, and so avoid the possibility of future privatisation. It said it had always been transparent and above board in its dealings.