Dom Richard, Patron CCR Union

2009 certainly has been a year of change. Obama took office in the US. The Lisbon Referendum was ratified across the European Union and a new Abbot was elected in Mount Saint Joseph Abbey, Roscrea. It is fitting that in this period of change our new website is launched. Just as Abbot Emeritus Dom Kevin has handed over the mantle of  leading Mount Saint Joseph Abbey to his successor Dom Richard, Michael Coyle has handed over the leadership of the CCR Union  to his successor Gerard O' Meara. Since the early part of 2009, CCR Union has been in the process of  harnessing information technology to afford Pastmen of CCR richer engagement with each other and the institution that has played a major part in their development.

It is appropriate at this time of change to pay tribute to our Patron Dom Richard and to previous generations of the Cistercian Order and CCR Pastmen who set down the foundations of our Union and have made it the vibrant organization it is these past eighty years.

Gerry O'Meara, Union President, 2009-2010

Union President, Gerard O’Meara (CCR1965-’70) is originally from Lorrha in North Tipperary, about 20 miles from the College.  He has lived and worked in Cork for over 30 years.  After leaving CCR he completed a B. Comm. degree in University College Dublin.  He subsequently completed the examinations of the Chartered Institute of Management accountants (CIMA) and the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA). He has held a number of positions with Irish Fertilizer Industries (IFI) and Bord Gais Eireann (BGE). He has been involved in CIMA affairs for many years and is currently on the Membership Assessment Board, the first non-UK member appointed to the Board.   He was also an external examiner to the Waterford Institute of Technology for a number of years.  Gerard has served as Chairman of the South West Branch since 2006. Married to Kay (nee O’Sullivan, whose late uncle, Denis Cahill of Rathmore, attended CCR from 1931 to 1934) they have three sons.