Announcing the Birth of the GDO Network

To All Guide Dog Owners - past and present! This is for you!

In response to an often wished for Guide Dog Owners group, five Guide Dog Owners got together to see if we could get something off the ground, with the support of the staff and Board of Irish Guide Dogs for the Blind. We have had a number of meetings over the last year with IGDB C.E.O. Padraig Mallon, as well as the then Chairman of the Board, Tom Aplin and Board member, Derry Walsh. These meetings were very open, productive and friendly occasions.

We are now delighted to announce that we have IGDB’s support in setting up a Guide Dog Owners group, run by and for current and past Guide Dog Owners in Ireland. The group will be known as The GDO Network. This group will work closely with IGDB, but will be an independent, stand alone group. Aims & Objectives These are provisional, subject to the approval of group members.

We are hoping that the GDO Network will;

• Give all Guide Dog Owners a chance to meet up on a regular basis
• Allow us to share experiences, exchange information, invite speakers, etc.
• Offer useful support and feedback to IGDB
• Allow GDOs to make new friends and contacts within the Guide Dog community

The first meet up of the GDO Network will take place on 14th November in the Ashling Hotel, Parkgate Street Dublin, Liffey Suite at 12 o’clock. The hotel is located on the Luas line, which services both Houston and Connolly stations. The stop to get off at is known as Museum.

The Agenda for this meeting will include;

1. Introduction – how did the GDO Network come about, update on meetings so far with IGDB Management and Board
2. Our name
3. Aims and objectives of the group
4. The constitution of the group
5. Election of serving officers 4 to 5 persons to carry out administrative duties and feedback sessions with IGDB.
6. Finances
7. Date, agenda and location of next meeting
8. Any other business

Whle the GDO Network has been provisionally established and approved, it is now up to you – the wider community of Guide Dog Owners - to define, shape and nurture this new support network of former and current guide dog owners.

It is important to note that IGDB cannot release any details of any current or past Guide Dog Owners, under data protection legislation. So if you wish to be involved in the GDO Network you will need to make contact directly with Breege O’Neil, (contact details below), to make known your interest after you receive this once off letter from the center.

We will have to be a self-financing body, so contributions will be sought from those attending to cover the cost of the function room. We propose to divide the cost of the room, €150, equally between those who attend the meeting. We hope this will be acceptable to you all!

We would like to thank IGDB for allowing us the use of their systems to get this once off communication out to all of you. Without their support this project could not go forward.

Finally, it would be just wonderful if as many of us as possible could attend this first get together, but we recognize that for people outside of Dublin concerns over travel, train connections etc may prove daunting! Well, we really don’t want such concerns to stand in your way. If you have any difficulties with travel arrangements, please contact Breege O’Neil, either by telephone, on 01 6747954, between 9.00am and 4.00pm, Monday to Thursday, or by email on brioneil@revenue.ie, and let us know how we can help to make your travel plans easier.

Looking forward to seeing you all soon,

Sandy Tomkins, Sarah Campbell, Breege & Tom O’Neill, Tim Culhane.

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