Alfa Owner Northern Ireland Rep

Ill try and keep this as short as I can. Just to introduce myself folks, I am going to be the rep for the Northern Ireland arm of AO.

Im based near Newry in N.I. I cover events and meetings in N.I.

Id like to know who is interested in the bi-monthly meets so that I can guage where would be the best areas to meet.

Unfortunatley the south west is out for me as its too far to travel from the north east down and back in a day. If theres anyone in that area interested in meets etc would you fancy being a rep for that area?

The things i am hoping to arrange for the Irish members is club discount on parts suppliers (probably pattern parts from europarts not genuine alfa bits sorry), I should also be able to arrange group discounts on ECU remaps from angel tuning as I know this is possible and I also aim to arrange a bi monthly meet, where we can do something on on a motoring theme ie. a karting GP, visit car shows/rallys, track days etc.

For now I am going to be organising a first meet for around July. this is because I think it would be better to get to know what way ppl want the club to go here instead of going and doing my own thing, and also the Italian car club here have their meet in June at the Transport Museum which I will be attending and hopefully meet some of the NI members there so ill have a better idea where were going after that.

Anybody interested in this send me a PM or reply here, If you think youll be too busy to attend meets or arent sure, then PM me or reply here aswell and at least ill keep you posted on whats going on, you never know there could be a meet just down the road from you


Cheers everybody,

Decky Quinn
AONI rep

Good luck with the area

wrinx

Are you familiar with octane.ie ?
Check it out,it's well worth it,loads of people owning Alfas are regulars on that site.

@wrinx - im gonna need it lol, ireland is bigger than all of england and wales put together!

@marius -just did, cheers man, maybe pick up a few more

Hi Decky

I am also from Newry although I now work in the Middle East. My Brother has all my cars and between my friend and I (Also based in Newry we have the following: Alfa gtv 16v, Alfa GTV 3.0v6, Alfa GTV6, Alfa Suds x3, Alfa GT Junior, Alfa 164 & 75.

Good luck

Originally Posted by ALFETTAMAN

Hi Decky

I am also from Newry although I now work in the Middle East. My Brother has all my cars and between my friend and I (Also based in Newry we have the following: Alfa gtv 16v, Alfa GTV 3.0v6, Alfa GTV6, Alfa Suds x3, Alfa GT Junior, Alfa 164 & 75.

Good luck

well you have enough for a meet already (nice collection)

and good luck Decky

best of luck decky...

Good luck Decky

Best of luck Decky personally.

If there seems to be a bit of a dearth of AO club support from the emerald isle AO'ers I'm sure its just because of the general uncertainty about the new changes on the board and people have a lot to take in at the moment

Regards,
TB

Best of luck Decky,

I hope to make the Italian Car meet, so might get to talk with you personally.

I would love to meet up, but bi-monthly might be a bit too frequent for me..

Cheers,
Brian.

Originally Posted by Decky

Ill try and keep this as short as I can. Just to introduce myself folks, I am going to be the rep for the Irish arm of AO.

Im based near Newry in N.I. tbh I was just looking to cover part of N.I. but as there werent many volunteers Ive temporarily been given all of Ireland which is a little big to suit everyone. This means that Id like to know who is interested in the bi-monthly meets so that I can guage where would be the best areas to meet.

Unfortunatley the south west is out for me as its too far to travel from the north east down and back in a day. If theres anyone in that area interested in meets etc would you fancy being a rep for that area?

The things i am hoping to arrange for the Irish members is club discount on parts suppliers (probably pattern parts from europarts not genuine alfa bits sorry), I should also be able to arrange group discounts on ECU remaps from angel tuning as I know this is possible and I also aim to arrange a bi monthly meet, where we can do something on on a motoring theme ie. a karting GP, visit car shows/rallys, track days etc.

For now I am going to be organising a first meet for around July. this is because I think it would be better to get to know what way ppl want the club to go here instead of going and doing my own thing, and also the Italian car club here have their meet in June at the Transport Museum which I will be attending and hopefully meet some of the NI members there so ill have a better idea where were going after that.

Anybody interested in this send me a PM or reply here, If you think youll be too busy to attend meets or arent sure, then PM me or reply here aswell and at least ill keep you posted on whats going on, you never know there could be a meet just down the road from you


Cheers everybody,

Decky Quinn
AOI rep

You've certainly got your work cut out. Even Northern Ireland is too big an area for one group. The NIIMC meets near Lisburn but that means we lose out on the North and West of the province and we only meet once a month.

I would try and get along once in a while but it would depend when and where. Newry would be a bit too far to travel for me.

Hi decky, i'll be interested in meeting up. I'm from fermangh but spend a lot of time just down the road from you in dundalk and know newry well. If you need any help give us a shout.

rgds brendan

Hey Decky,

Congrats on your new post, bit of a daunting task given the area to cover,
Unfortunately I'm a miserable bugger so probably won't get to too many meets, but will keep am eye out to see what happening.
Was hoping to get to the NIIMC Day at Cultra when I first read about it, but as luck would have it I'm away that weekend.

I'm new-ish here and haven't really got to know anybody well, but from what I've seen so far, there does seem to be a few folk from around these parts. It would be good to put faces to the few names I've noticed so far.

Keep us posted & best of luck
Mark

Good luck with this huge task Decky!

I'm all set for the Cultra meet so I'll see you there. In the mean time if you need help with anything in the Mid-Ulster area just pm me.

Cheers everybody, I really may be PMing yous for help!

Alfettaman, that is a serious collection! hopefully ill get to see it sometime

As i said Newry is pretty good for dublin/dundalk/drogheda/belfast ppl as its reasonably central, but I dont expect ppl to travel the distance from teh likes of cork lol and as such ill change the venues about to follow any interest in an area so Im just lookin to see where there are concentrations of ppl that would be interested in the meets/events.

One of the ideas i have for an initial meet is somewhere near downpatrick - bishops court race track as i can get track days there for about £35-40pp which is nice an cheap and theres the aquarium, st pats grave and loads of other tourist things in the area that can entertain families if their not that interested in 1/4 miles or race line tutorials, but as before i need to know if this is the kinda thing your gonna be interested in? show an shine or practical senic drives? or even abandoning our cars an going karting or viewing exotics/classics at a show? or a mix of all the above?

I aim to make this a car 'CLUB' here, as rep all im gonna be doing is the fetching what people want but i need to know what people want an then ill do my best to get it.


so far Im aiming for;

June: unoffical meet during italian car club meet as there are a few ppl in both (and Stu might give me some tips!)

late July: first official meet possibly downpatrick/bishopscourt track? http://www.bishopscourtracingcircuit.com/0303lt2.JPG

Sat 1/9/07: Kilbroney 2000 vintage/exotic car rally (really really worth the trip for any NI members!)

Hi Decky.
You've took on a brave task. I have been running the the NIIMC (not car, but motor club by the way) since 2004. Before that it was actually called the Alfa owners club. Big Jon was in it even before me.
The problem is N.I. alone as BJ says is a big area to cover and not only that but getting enough people to attend meetings with one make is very difficult and the main reason we changed to the Northern Ireland Italian Motor Club.
We have 40 members but out of that only 4 Alfa owners. I have found it very difficult to get Alfa people interested in joining the club (Glenda's a good example ) unless they are true Alfisti.
I've also been trying to talk BJ into running a seperate meeting of the NIIMC up around the Coleraine area, but he hasn't took the hint yet and Alfetteman is a member to. Our furthest away one at the moment !
One of the reasons we picked the Tidy Doffer outside Lisburn is because it's not far from the border and is a straight run from Newry up the bypass.
If we had enough people showing an interest from further North so to speak then we would consider moving the meetings in that direction.

It's took 3 years and we are only now starting to get noticed. In that time I've managed to get very close links with Mervyn Stewarts N.I's main Fiat/Alfa dealer and secured good discounts on cars, parts and servicing from them. We're the only club as far as I know who has managed to do this with a main dealer. They also go the extra mile to help club members if someone has a problem.

I'd be happy to help you out were I can but it might be best if you nip up to our next meeting as I don't think I'm going to get much time at Cultra to have a decent chat with everyone. Unless you follow me around everywere on the day It'll give you an idea of whats ahead of you though

One thing in your favour is you don't have to run the website to which I do.
Mind you, I'm lucky to in that we have good people commited to our Club and we all muck in together. This has taken a lot of pressure off me, specially now we have a new baby only arrived as I don't think I will be able to do as much this year as I have in the past.

Right I've rambled on enough. If you need pointers just ask. If I can help I will. The NIIMC is my main priority but if I can help with making people's awareness of all things Italian greater, I'm only to glad to assist.
Good on you for taking this on. I wish you lots of luck.

Incidently I see you have Kilbroney down as vintage/exotic. They explicity don't allow any vehicle to attend the show that is younger than 1983 as far as I know unless they have changed their policy for this year. I know this because I have been trying to get them to change their rules for what clubs put on their stands for years. (We put a club stand on every year)

hi decky it is good to see that finally ireland is getting in on the club scene and we are not left behind the uk may i suggest a meet in the middle between dublin and northern ireland unfortunatly for praticalitys sake i dont think we can have one meet for the whole of ireland.If you need any help in organizing events i live in the west of dublin but good luck on getting it up and running

good luck Decky


Brad...

Originally Posted by Stu

Hi Decky.
You've took on a brave task. I have been running the the NIIMC (not car, but motor club by the way) since 2004. Before that it was actually called the Alfa owners club. Big Jon was in it even before me.
The problem is N.I. alone as BJ says is a big area to cover and not only that but getting enough people to attend meetings with one make is very difficult and the main reason we changed to the Northern Ireland Italian Motor Club.
We have 40 members but out of that only 4 Alfa owners. I have found it very difficult to get Alfa people interested in joining the club (Glenda's a good example ) unless they are true Alfisti.
I've also been trying to talk BJ into running a seperate meeting of the NIIMC up around the Coleraine area, but he hasn't took the hint yet and Alfetteman is a member to. Our furthest away one at the moment !......

The original club was called the Northern Ireland Italian Car Club and didn't extend beyond Italian cars. The club fell apart after the original secretary just couldn't devote the time required and the treasurer took a stroke unfortunately as well. We also had members from all parts of the country and it was impossible to accomodate everyone so obviously many lost interest and the club faded. I was on the commitee and also produced the quarterly magazine which involved a lot of time and effort but can't devote the time which would be required of both posts.

The above is why I don't think one person can cover Northern Ireland let alone the whole of Ireland but I'll participate in any AO meets were possible.

As for a Coleraine centered section of the NIIMC, I have mentioned this again to the Alfa/Fiat dealer again and they're still keen to help out but I've yet to sort out a letter they can send out to potential members along with the application form. So I have taken the hint, Stu but just been too busy to organise anything definite.

Cheers guys, and yes i will be trying to move the meets around if theres any interest in the area so a meet near dublin could well be on the cards for the near future as theres a few ppl in teh area that are on here regularly

The kilbroney meet will be us parking our cars in the car park and going round looking at the vintage lovelies, and then havin an alcohol free (not free alcohol im afraid) barbeque nearby then maybe something after that which i havent thought of yet. Im gonna try an get some contacts of Mervyn Stewarts for any discounts i can wrangle for members, as for parts discounts in Newry and Belfast i should have that sorted by the 18th May(ish) with other discounts to follow in teh very near future.

Thanks again guys I hope yous can make it to a few of our meets when were up and going, im really looking forward to cultra myself