On behalf of the RSPBNI Co.Antrim Section, I would like to respond to a number of issues raised after the event on Saturday 2nd June at Ballmoney Rugby Club.

We are aware of the problems  with the car park.The Rugby club placed tight restrictions upon us with regard to parking within the club grounds and as a result they assured us that they would be providing a suitable parking facility in the adjoining field as well as another field on the other side of the road. We fought long and hard to bring the price of parking down to a minimum,as they were insisting on a charge to cover costs of ‘hiring’the field.They had set a price of £5 per car which we blankly refused to accept. After a long period of negotiation they agreed to reduce this fee to £3. We were still not happy with this but as we were using this facility we needed parking of some sort as there was no other parking avaibable to us. The car park money went entirely to the Rugby club.

The fee at the gate was for the Section to help to fund this event. Contests are becoming increasingly expensive to run and money from the sponsors, council etc.is becoming increasingly hard to obtain and the restrictions on this money is becoming tighter and tighter. We, as a section ,aim to provide a successful competition but we are reliant on our sponsors and our hosts for much of the the practical running of the event. We took the club at their word that they would provide a suitable car park, but unfortunately by the time we were able to inspect the car park it was too late to make alternative arrangements.

As a section we made the decision a number of years ago to provide competitors with the BEST possible competition we could and this means investing in a full panel of judges, i.e 2 Piping,1 drumming & Ensemble.Most bands seem to appreciate having 4 judges but for us as a section this means considerably higher costs. This year, for example we were allocated 5 Judges from Scotland.This meant 5 return flights & 5 rooms in a hotel for 2 nights as well as taxi fares etc..A couple of years ago we also made the decision to waiver the entry fee for the bands and drum majors. Alongside this we also INCREASED our PRIZE MONEY,which is considerable higher than most other section competitions. To compensate for these changes  we were forced to make a charge at the gate. We would love to offer our vistors a totally free day out but sadly nothing is free these days and most of the general public understand this. We certainly do not run this contest with the aim of making money.

We would also like to clear up the matter of raffle tickets. The Co. Antrim Section were NOT selling raffle tickets on Saturday. The only tickets on sale were from the Rugby Club.

We would like to thank everyone who attended the contest on Saturday and we thank you for your feedback.

Feedback is taken on board so that we can improve in the future,which is something we all want to do. Best Wishes for the rest of the season to ALL Bands and Drum Majors.

See you ALL next year for our 40th Co.Antrim Championships in Carrickferus D.V

Regards,
Alistair McCleery
Secretary