Dorothy Collins was re-elected as honorary secretary of the Leinster Branch at their a.g.m. in Old Belvedere last night despite a surprise attempt to replace her with Peter Squire, who had held the position in the 1980s and seemingly had the backing of outgoing branch president Tony de Lacy and incoming president, Louis Magee.

Dorothy Collins was re-elected as honorary secretary of the Leinster Branch at their a.g.m. in Old Belvedere last night despite a surprise attempt to replace her with Peter Squire, who had held the position in the 1980s and seemingly had the backing of outgoing branch president Tony de Lacy and incoming president, Louis Magee.Collins, the first woman to hold an administrative position at representative level in Irish rugby, will thus go into her third year as branch secretary after staving off what many in Leinster rugby circles thought was a needless attempt to replace her. Her margin of victory was not divulged although there was almost a 100 per cent turn-out from the near 180 delegates - four from each of the 19 senior clubs in the province and one or two from each of the 55 junior clubs, depending on their status.

Collins is widely perceived to have done a good job and what motivated management figures to try and replace her is a minor mystery, with insiders believing it may stem from a rift between her and de Lacy after she insisted he be re-nominated by the referees' association after flaws in the original nomination. Such was the divisiveness which the vote caused, for example, it is believed the four Bective Rangers delegates were mandated to vote for Collins, while their nomination for president, Louis Magee, voted for Squire.

Many club delegates complained they would not have known of the vote had it not been publicised in The Irish Times on Wednesday. It was agreed that in future the clubs would be informed of such elections, if contested, at least two weeks in advance.

Brian Brady of Monkstown, who seconded Squires' nomination, was elected junior vice-president and so will inherit the presidency in two years' time.