It with great regret that Irish Sailing acknowledges the death of Ursula Maguire over the Christmas break.
Ursula (95) of Sandycove, County Dublin, was a founding administrator in the sport of sailing in Ireland and for many years was the sole administrator of the Irish Dinghy Racing Association (IDRA) before becoming the Secretary General of the Irish Yacht Association (IYA), an organisation that has evolved into Irish Sailing.
Former President of Irish Sailing, John P. Bourke joined us in sharing some memories of her:
“During my stint as President, I probably spoke to Ursula on the phone or personally on every second day. We never had a cross word. Her judgement of situations and the people concerned was excellent, and she made life easy for me and the many others involved.
Of course, the sport was much smaller than it is today on all fronts, but it was starting to grow and new initiatives such as “Sailability” for a wider audience and disabled sailing were adding to the list.
Money too, had to be raised for special projects such as Olympic campaigns. The government at the time was not able or did not provide, and so donations had to be sought and raffles run. Ireland did gain an Olympic Silver Medal in her time, and we could not have achieved that without her efforts and that of many others.
Ursula was herself a member of a well-known, successful sailing family and many in the industry could not quite understood how single handedly, she did it all. However, she did, and most successfully at that. In addition, she enjoyed, a rare, almost total approval of the Irish sailing community.”
John Twomey, President of Irish Sailing expressed his regret at Ursula’s passing:
“Ursula will be greatly missed within the sailing community. Her wisdom, humility and unwavering dedication to the sport has set an example we can only hope to equal. Our thoughts are with Ursula’s close family and friends at this time. There are few that have left such an enduring legacy throughout the sport of sailing.”
Ursula will be much missed, and our heartfelt condolences are with her family and many friends.