Guider Conference an National Council 2026

24th – 26th April saw the return of our National Guider Conference and National Council 2026 to the Talbot Hotel in Stillorgan, Co. Dublin.  On the Friday night approximately 34 Guiders checked in to the hotel ahead of the weekends activities.  We all received a warm welcome from the staff as always, many of whom have gotten to know a lot of us over the past year as we have held the National Executive Board meetings and various team meetings in the hotel.

Friday night for most was a casual event, a time to go for dinner and catch up with friends of old and also a time to meet some new ones.  The sound of laughter could be heard throughout the hotel into the early hours for some.

Saturday morning, after breakfast for those who had stayed over in the hotel, it was time to head towards the registration desk for the National Guider Conference where with the rest of the attendees we all came together for some Tea/Coffee and Refreshments.  The theme for this year’s conference was “Health and Wellbeing”.  The programme for the day was planned, organised and run by the Health Promotion Team which consisted of Nicola Toughey, Barbara Ryan, Terry Baker, Eileen McCarthy,  Rachel Murphy and Nicola Kennedy Cope.

There were 4 different sessions planned for the day, 2 to take place before lunch and another 2 in the afternoon.  At 10.30 am our Chief Commissioner Julie Donnelly, officially opened the Guider Conference by welcoming the 60 plus attendees, and explained that the aim of the day was to relax, recharge, connect and above all have some fun.  The room then split into 2 groups for the morning sessions.

The first group headed into the Shelbourne 2 suite where Rachael Treanor, National Youth Health Programme Manager in the National Youth Council of Ireland (NYCI) lead a very informative session on how we as leaders can help our youth members understand the role of relationships in their lives, so that they are confident in themselves and know what is right for them. This session was just a taster for a much longer course that the NYCI runs, but we had time for some fun and creative exercises to explore the topic. We did a very impactful exercise where we got in to small groups and discussed whether various statements/situations were ‘healthy’ or ‘unhealthy’. The complexity and sensitivity of the topic was clear, as the answer depended on the child’s age group, the context and how secure an environment the child might be in. We came away with lots of thought-provoking ideas and a useful tool to explore ideas around relationships in a safe and interactive way.

The second group headed into the Shelbourne 4 suite, which saw the combination of an activity for them to partake in and an information gathering opportunity.  At the side of the room were tables with all of the CGI resources on display from our various sections' Choices Programmes, to the Mental Health and Wellbeing Programme, The PEPP programme, and also a table with lots of information on various health topics made available from The Cancer Society, The Heart Foundation and Healthy Ireland.  Also joining us in the room was Kieran from Parkinson’s Ireland and Carmel from the IOAC.  The main event in the room however was the ‘Power Tower’.  Colin from the Smoothie Bikes company explained about the amount of energy we use on a daily basis, and ways to conserve that energy and changes we can make in our day to day lives to do so.  He then went on to explain how much energy it takes to just boil 10ml of water in a kettle, and the object of the bikes was for us to see for ourselves exactly what it takes to create that amount of energy by cycling a set distance.

We were to race in pairs to see who could create the amount of energy required the fastest, and then the names would be put up onto the leaderboard, with the winner from each group battling it out after both sessions.  As the first set of names went up on the leader board the competition began to really show with some Guiders stepping back up on the bikes to take another attempt to beat their previous time to try come out on top.  The overall winner from the first group was Tanya from the new Banbridge Unit in the Northern Region with a time of under 10 seconds.

Once all the races were complete, we had Gerardette McVeigh from the Northern Region take us through the PEPP programme that she has run with her own unit.  Then Rachel Murphy from the Eastern Region took us through her Mental Health and Wellbeing Programme which she complied as part of her An Dushlan project.  Then we heard from Kieran of Parkinsons Ireland, who explained in depth the work of the charity and how perhaps we can get some of our youth members involved in making a difference.  The session was then finished off by Carmel taking us through what the IOAC has to offer and the different activities and accommodation on site and some of the special offers available to us.

After each group had completed their first session of the morning, they then swapped places and the winner of our  2nd Tower of Power was our very own Nicola Kenndy Cope from the National Office.  Before we could head to lunch it was time for Nicola and Tanya to battle it out on the bikes, with the best of 3 being the decider, and after some debate about the orange bike being the quicker of the two and swapping bikes for a fair race, Tanya went on to claim victory.  Well Done Tanya.  Suddenly there was a commotion at the back of the room as a special guest had arrived.   ‘Cara Bear’ came into the room and called on Julie the Chief Commissioner to battle it out on the bikes.  Cheers filled the room as both Julie and Cara Bear raced against each other on the bikes only for Julie to just beat Cara to the finish line. 

Then it was off to the restaurant of the hotel for a welcome lunch where we were looked after so well by all the hotel staff.  The restaurant was filled with a sea of yellow tops and the hum of conversations of friends new and old.

After lunch we had 2 more sessions to complete.  We split back into our groups from this morning and first up for the first group was Chair Yoga with Aoife Moloney McGowan who told us all about how she had completed her training in Bali.  Aoife took us through a number of breathing exercises as well as some gentle and some maybe not so gentle Yoga poses.  All to a beautiful serene and calming musical background.  Aoife was mindful of all capabilities and gave excellent direction during her session.  Everyone came away very relaxed and sleepy and for some of us we had awoken some muscles that in some cases were long forgotten.

After a quick break for some refreshments to break up the afternoon we moved onto the last session of the afternoon with Garda David Kelleher from Blackrock Garda Station who gave a very useful and thought-provoking presentation on staying safe online and avoiding scams.

Garda Kelleher explained about cyberbullying and the consequences of sharing intimate images, including the criminal charges contained in ‘Coco’s Law’. He emphasised the importance of young people having a trusted adult they can confide in if they are being subjected to cyberbullying or harassment online, or if they have concerns about intimate images being shared. Through a short video, we also learned that not everyone is who they say they are online and how we can encourage our girls to be cautious when chatting with others and alert someone if things start to feel uncomfortable.

The session closed with a brief discussion on avoiding becoming a victim of a scam and how scammers are increasing in sophistication. The session provided plenty of food for thought for us all but Garda Kelleher reminded us that Gardaí are available to provide guidance and resources.

We then all gathered back in one room as Julie our Chief Commissioner officially closed the Guider Conference for 2026, saying she hoped we all had an enjoyable day, and all got to take something away with us, and that she never thought she would be cycling against Cara Bear! Julie thanked and commended the Health Promotion Team for a great day.

We then had some spare time before we were due to meet later on for dinner.  Some people headed back to their rooms to relax before dinner, others chose to hang out and catch up on each other’s news and some took some time to head to the local mass.

After dinner it was time for some more fun and games, and a table quiz was the fun activity for the night.  What better way to end a day around Health Promotion than to have a quiz based on Chocolate, Biscuits, Emojis and more Chocolate!

Seven teams took part in the Quiz, and once again competition was fierce, with the leader board changing after each round.  After the fourth and final round we ended up with a 3 way tie! After the tense tie breaking question of ‘What is the total number of DAYS that the current 4 National Office staff members have been employed for?

There was much debating going on for this question with the actual number being 11,020 days.  Would you believe it we had 2 teams guess the exact same answer?  The ‘Ging Gang Goolies’ and the ‘Maria for Lord Mayor of Sheriff Street Election’  were once again tied with their answer of 12.045.  So it was all on the final tie breaker of ‘How many individual items are available for sale on the CGI online shop?  The eventual winners were the Ging Gang Goolies who were then presented with their prizes, before the music filled the room and the dancers took to the floor. 

As the night was drawing to a close, looking around the room it was great to see people dancing and singing, or simply sitting and catching up, having fun ahead of National Council tomorrow.

Thanks to Nicola Toughey and Nicola Kennedy Cope for coming up with the questions and for marking and keeping  the score cards, and to Barbara and Rachel for calling out the questions and answers.  Julie was a bit concerned for Rachel’s voice at one point thinking ahead to her Finance presentation at National Council in the morning!

The 49th National Council was held on Sunday the 26th of April 2026 and we had an amazing turnout! We had representation from all of our regions, it was brilliant to see so many faces, both new and those returning!

As always we had a packed agenda to get through for the day. We started at 10:30am, opening the meeting with a welcome from the Chief Commissioner, our reflection and our prayer and then it was straight into business!

We had a very comprehensive financial report, as always, from Rachel, the National Treasurer and afterwards was perhaps everyone’s favourite part of the National Council, our Annual Report video! It’s brilliant to see what everyone gets up to during the year and last year was no different. A massive thank you to everyone for sharing with us what they did last year, we hope this coming year brings even more fun and adventure!

After the Annual Report, we had the Chief Commissioner’s Address. We always love to hear from Julie, the Chief Commissioner, but it was definitely a bittersweet moment as it was her last council as Chief Commissioner.

Following the address there was the election of scrutineers and then any voting on amendments and resolutions took place. There were quite a few to get through so thank you to the staff and the scrutineers for ensuring that it all ran smoothly and that all votes were counted correctly.

Just before lunch we had an update on our Strategic Plan, updates from the office, and of course, the In Remembrance section of the meeting, which is always hard but a lovely way to remember those we have loved and lost.

By lunch time we were running slightly behind schedule so it was decided that the Information Exchange would happen during lunch for anyone who wanted, this worked well and after a lovely lunch we were back on track for the rest of the day!

After lunch we had Eileen Rowe come in to speak to us about her experience in the health and fitness industry, keeping in line with the weekend's theme of health and wellbeing. Eileen also talked to us about her involvement with the ‘Dip in the Nip Wexford’ for women which takes place every year and raises funds for the Hope Cancer Support Centre. This year’s dip will be held on July 19th at 7am on the Rosslare Strand in Wexford. A massive thank you to Eileen for coming to talk to us at National Council, it was brilliant to have her!

We then had some more presentations by our Spirituality Team and by our Commissioner for Development, Hannah Barton, about the new Mentoring programme. This was followed by some presentations about International trips, upcoming WAGGGS opportunities and the Oisín Award.

Towards the closing of our meeting we had our elections. Rachel Murphy was elected into the role of National Treasurer, Emily McCann was elected into the role of National Programme Commissioner and Suzanne Lenihan was elected as our new Chief Commissioner. A big congratulations to all those elected and a big thank you to all those who stepped down from positions for their service and commitment to the organisation.

After all the business was concluded it was time for the closing prayer and with that the 49th National Council came to a close. I think it’s safe to say that it was a brilliant day filled with fun and laughter as well as being a very productive day for all!

Thank you to all who attended the National Council, we hope you enjoyed the day and we wish to see you all again next year! Thank you to the Talbot Hotel for being great hosts, as always. A massive thank you to the staff in the National Office, Nicola, Nicola, Eoin and Rob for their hard work year round, such a huge amount of work goes into a day like this and it wouldn’t be possible without them so we can’t thank you all enough.

Lastly, a special thank you to Julie Donnelly, our outgoing Chief Commissioner and to Michelle Finnerty, our outgoing Programme Commissioner. Thank you both for all of the hardwork, dedication and love that you have given to this organistaion over the years. Julie, we are so proud of the way you have led and represented us during your time as our Chief Commissionerand Michelle, we are so thankful for your hard work and commitment to organising and running so many amazing events over the years! We wish Suzanne and Emily all the best as they take on the roles of Chief Commissioner and Programme Commissioner.