The Annual General meeting of Ballyskenach GAA Club was held on 11/12/1996 There was a large attendance at the meeting which was chaired by Din Mullally. The minutes of the previous years AGM were read and adopted. The Secretary Colm Lalor then read his report for the year. He gave a detailed account of games played and results for the year. He stated that while the results for the year were disappointing, in his opinion, and indeed in the opinion of the rest of the Committee, the results did not reflect the true ability of the team
He stated that if the panel of players currently available trained hard, worked together for the good of the team and approached each game with a positive mental attitude, he felt that they would prove a force to be reckoned with in 1997 and he wished them every success for the year ahead.
He stated that he felt the Club News Letter had been a great success and he thanked Fiona Hannon for her work in compiling the information and Mary Dooley for her work in producing it. In his report, he said that 1996 was a very sad year for the Club in that we lost a number of good Committee members, friends and supporters. He cited the death of Jimmy Carroll, Jack Kirwan, and Mary Cunningham as a great loss to the area. The passing of our late President. Jack Dooley was a major blow to the Club and in particular the Juvenile section where Jack's vast knowledge of the game would be sorely missed.
He thanked Dr. Murphy and Dr. Booth for the medical attention administered during the year and all those who had helped him in his job as Secretary during the year.
Mary Dooley, Treasurer, gave a Financial Report to the meeting. She stated that during the year the Club had recovered from a £4,000 deficit to an almost break-even situation. She stated that the Club in addition to this had raised £1,300 which it had forwarded to the Maher Tragedy Fund in Portarlington.
Eugene Hannon, Chairman of the Development Committee, gave a report to the meeting on the work carried out in St. Bernard’s Park. He outlined the drainage and reclamation work that had been carried out in the field and the work that had been carried out in laying the slab for the new dressing rooms. He thanked all those who over the year had worked in a voluntary capacity in the field and he gave an outline of proposed developments for 1997. He then announced to the meeting that he had received a letter from the Government confirming that a Grant of £10,000 from Lottery Funds had been allocated to the developments in the hurling field
Nicholas Hannon, Secretary South Offaly Development Committee gave a report to the meeting on the FAS Scheme. He outlined the background to the setting up of the Committee, the representation on it from the various groups involved and the Plan that had been submitted to FAS for approval. He stated that the Scheme was up and running since the 9th December and that the scheme was projected to run for 2 years.
The Chairman, Din Mullally, then addressed the meeting. He thanked all those who had contributed to the Club over the past year. He felt that because of the young age profile of our team that we had considerable potential at Senior Hurling level despite the poor results over the past year. He pointed out that these results were in a large part due to lack of player availability because of exams and work commitment. He thanked the Committee of the Minor Club for their work with the juveniles over the past year and congratulated them for the manner in which they had run the Club and removed the burden from the Senior Committee. He also stated that he was delighted at the level of female and juvenile representation and he felt they had been an unqualified success. He thanked the Senior Committee for the manner in which they had worked over the past year particularly in the area of fund raising and stated he hoped the impetus within the Club would be sustained over the next year.
A general discussion took place regarding hurling for the next year and then the election of officers took place. The following officers were elected:
| Joint Hon. Life Presidents | Billy Flynn, Frank Kennedy |
| Chairman | Din Mullally |
| Vice-Chairman | Nicholas Hannon |
| Secretary | Colm Lalor |
| Ass. Secretary and PRO | Fiona Hannon |
| Treasurer | Mary Dooley |
| Registrar | Ger Mullally |
| Committee | Eugene Hannon, Mike Ryan, Tom O'Toole, Derek Russell, Monty Franks, Michael Hannon, Gerry Kirwan, John Higgins, Jimmy Middleton. |
| Senior Team Trainer | Patsy Rowland |
| Selectors | John Higgins and Jimmy Middleton. |
The meeting concluded with a vote of sympathy to the families of all those who had suffered bereavement during the year Go nDeana Dia Trocaire Orthu.
At a subsequent Committee Meeting Gerry McAuliffe was appointed as a third Selector to the Senior Hurling Team