Time for an Irish meet?

[ahal]

Hi everyone,

Now that the keys to my 480 have returned following an 8 month break ( long story, father up for adoption ) I'm thinking a meet either North or South might be nice as the autumn rolls in? Anyone interested in arranging one?

I've been looking at 'Irish Vintage Scene' magazine and what others do, particularly the Capri Club. They arranged one meeting at a Ford dealership, complete with snazzy printed gi-normous sign and the cars parked around in a semi - circle. How about something like this? It would perhaps generate a bit of momentum?

After all, the trade is slack and I'm sure any opportunity to drum up a bit of interest would go down well with Volvo dealerships? I'm just bouncing a ball here, thought I'd throw it out there and see what y'all think.

Regards,

Tony.

[NI_Volvo_Nut]

Take a look here Tony.....
http://www.volvoforums.org.uk/showthread.php?t=78323

[ahal]

Oops, sorry I missed that somehow. Looks pretty interesting, even if a do have an attitude towards drifters lol

[mickaleen59]

Originally Posted by ahal

Hi everyone,

Now that the keys to my 480 have returned following an 8 month break ( long story, father up for adoption ) I'm thinking a meet either North or South might be nice as the autumn rolls in? Anyone interested in arranging one?

I've been looking at 'Irish Vintage Scene' magazine and what others do, particularly the Capri Club. They arranged one meeting at a Ford dealership, complete with snazzy printed gi-normous sign and the cars parked around in a semi - circle. How about something like this? It would perhaps generate a bit of momentum?

After all, the trade is slack and I'm sure any opportunity to drum up a bit of interest would go down well with Volvo dealerships? I'm just bouncing a ball here, thought I'd throw it out there and see what y'all think.

Regards,

Tony.

Yeah, a good idea. It's a pity there aren't more Irish members so we could have a sort of (Regular maybe?) meetup, especially when you see a good few Volvos about, problem being I suppose is they are mostly newish ones whose owners are probably (buy new, keep a year or two and trade in again for new) people who don't have a DIY ownership. NO OFFENSE INTENDED!!

Monaghan is a bit far up for me i'm afraid NI Volvo Nut especially with petrol at over 1.20/litre and a 2.5 petrol guzzler to feed eh ha ha!!

Regards,

Michael

[ahal]

Hi Michael,

Yes you're dead right there ... I get cut up on the roads often enough by smart alecs ( you know the term I'd prefer to use ) repping in the newer models. It's kind of sad really. I guess the same can be said of a lot of marques: people these days mostly fall in love with the year on the registration plate rather than the car.

I get itchy feet every Autumn which is why I mentioned a meet, didn't actually realise that the post had already been on about Monaghan. I'm thinking around Christmas / early new year it'd be really good for a few of us to get together. I remember a meet a couple of years ago around the Dublin mountains and there was a great turnout.

I've been watching various other car clubs ( VOC spy lol ) and it seems a bit like selling something on ebay in a way. For some reason everything falls into place sometimes and there's huge interest, or the thing semi - bombs for no discernable reason.

Regards,

Tony.

[NI_Volvo_Nut]

I know at the minute in the North everyone seems to be having OC meets, last weekend alone there were 3 OC meets plus a Show n Shine, think this weekend is to be the same ffs, I agree with the December / Newyear idea, only thing is my 740 will probably be off the road again from Oct so I can get the engine out, fit clutch and oil seals and tidy the engine bay. But i guess I can bring one of the other 2 along lol

[ahal]

All that remains is to hope it snows

[DarrenK]

There just doesn't seem to be enough enthusiastic Volvo owners in Ireland who are actually interested in what they drive and the possible social aspect of it. There is actually quite a lot of Irish members join the forum and last year I kept a very close eye on the members list and PM'd everyone to try and get their interest - most didn't reply, and the few that did, I never heard from or ever saw! Like-wise with the VOC blue membership cards, I slipped loads under the wipers of Volvos to no end.

There just isn't enough interest for regular meets, or for a North and South section. When you organise something in the North, the Southerners don't drive up and vise-vera. Only thing I'd recommend is to have a seasonal Irish meet somewhere central so everyone has a fair game getting to, even if it's only for a few hours to chat, get some food and perhaps have a last-minute run in the countryside!

Unless someone knew somebody in a Volvo dealership I doubt they'd be interested in helping activities, unless you were talking big numbers (of Volvos in attendance) and the dealer were likely to get something out of it (they know they won't make money out of older cars)!

[ahal]

Hi Darren,

Yes good points ... it does seem to be common to a lot of clubs tbh. I'm thinking of that meet around January '08(?) ... it was a real hoot. Personally I'd like to make one or two a year, North doesn't bother me as the road is good ... getting out of Dublin is the biggest problem in fact.

Obviously loads of peeps go up for Ikea and booze ( and just about everything else ) so it's a bit of a mystery. I suppose with the MG clubs and so on they're closer because parts are that much harder to source, and they're in contact anyway.

I'm wondering if this recession has anything to do with it? I've noticed that the traffic has pretty well halved down here, and people seem mainly to be doing necessary trips.

Regards,

Tony.

PS: Like the new car btw ... I knew it was only a matter of time before you'd make the 'right' choice

[ahal]

Oh, incidentally ...

Wasn't sure whether to say this or not, but it strikes me that some of us down here still have this image of Northern Ireland. Have to be honest and say I did at one time too ... though I've long since realized that there's a far better chance of having your head kicked in in Dublin.

Incidentally, less than a fornight ago in Bray ( where I live ) literally a two mile walk away, a girl and her boyfriend got stabbed to death by her ex. After he did all that, he went out to the back garden and stabbed himself to death too. This follows an incident even closer to my home where a french man was shot dead through a window about 3 months ago. A few years ago, a 5 minute walk away, a guy was shot dead while watching the 6 o'clock news. Chap just strolled in casually, did him, and strolled out casually.

All that helped change my view of the north