At a meeting of An Ard Chomhairle, the Council of the Irish Kennel Club, held on Friday, 13th February it was decided by an overwhelming majority of members present that the Irish Kennel Club should apply for full membership of the FCI.

The following is a summary of the main points made at the special meeting held to allow members the opportunity to be better informed as to the implications to the Irish Kennel Club's current and future association with the FCI.

Mr. Kari Jarvinen (FCI Board Member) gave a presentation on the structures of the FCI and explained what FCI membership had meant to his home country Finland, a country similar in many ways to Ireland. He gave details of the input and influence Finland has had over the years and confirmed that a country our size can make a major impact as a member of the FCI. To maximise our influence he felt we should consider full membership. As most of the submissions and questions centred around the implication of full membership to the Irish Kennel Club, the concerns of our members in these matters were addressed by Mr. Jarvinen.

The FCI require the following of full members

Non show related

Mutual recognitiion of the following:- Registrations, Titles, Affixes, Judges Qualifications, Breed Standards (issued by the country of origin) and recognition of the FCI Groups (presently 10).

Financial

Annual fee for full membership is 900 euros. The only other charge is the headage fee at International Events, which are paid by the organising Club.

Show related

National shows and events (Green Star)
Irish Kennel Club rules and show regulations apply for all Field Trial, Working, Agility, Obedience and Beauty Events i.e. no change in classification, no grading and no critique required.

International shows and events

Judges must be paid 25 euros per judging day unless otherwise agreed by the judge. The payment of stewards is not obligatory and critique writing is optional. FCI groupings must be used as is the FCI age classification and eligibility for titles.

However from a group judging perspective some groups may be judged jointly i.e. all Gundogs

All FCI regulations regarding Field Trial, Obedience, Working and Agility tests only apply where FCI International Titles are on offer otherwise local regulations apply.

Mr. Jarvinen confirmed that full membership would give us the eligibility to serve on all committees including the Executive Board of the FCI and allow us the opportunity to host international events such as the European and World Dog Shows (a possibility with the movement of dogs legislation coming in July 2004)

In his opinion another advantage to be gained by full membership would be the opportunity to participate in the management and future planning of the FCI particularly in its on going negotiations with the Kennel Club, London and the American Kennel Club, to agree a comprehensive reciprocal contract on matters of mutual interest.

Finally, any application for full membership may be negotiated with the possibility of concessions in some areas.