The Gazette 1955-58

The foregoing were declared duly elected. The result of the ballot for the 31 ordinary members of the Council and the supplemental list was as follows :— Dermot P. Shaw, 512; Arthur Cox, 462 ; Thomas A. O'Reilly, 459; Joseph Barrett, 455; Henry St. J. Blake, 442 ; John Carrigan, 430 ; Patrick R. Boyd, 420; Cornelius J. Daly, 417 ; Desmond J. Collins, 415 ; John R. Halpin, 409; Niall S. Gaffhey, 408 ; Charles J. Downing, 403 ; John J. Nash, 399 ; Joseph P. Tyrrell, 393 ; Patrick F. O'Reilly, 392; James J. O'Connor, 390; Scan O'hUadhaigh, 389 ; Desmond J. Mayne, 379 ; Francis J. Lanigan, 375 ; Terence de Vere White, 374; Peter E. O'Connell, 374 ; George G. Overend, 372 ; F. J. Gearty, 365 ; W. J. V. Comerford, 363 ; Ralph •]. Walker, 357; James R. Quirke, 356; R. McD. Taylor, 352 ; John J. Shell, 351 ; George A. Nolan, 343; Francis X. Burke, 327; Louis Walsh, 313. Supplemental Lisf: John Maher, 284 ; C. J. Gore-Grimes, 272 ; J. J. O'Dwyer, 256. The President declared the foregoing members of the Society duly elected to the Council and the supplemental list in accordance with the Scrutineers' report. The following candidates received the number of votes placed after their names :— Gerard M. Doyle, 176; James A. Kelly, 159. The President moving the adoption of the report of the Council said :— Ladies and Gentlemen : Since our last meeting, death has taken its usual toll, and we have with regret to record the names of those members of our Society who are no longer with us : John Lombard (Gorey) ; Robert C. Graham (Belfast) ; Joseph H. Dixon (Dublin); Brendan C. Russell (Dundalk) ; Richard O'Brien (Tipperary); Dermot Murtagh (Athlone) ; James G. O'Connor (Dublin); Charles K. Murphy (Cork) ; John Cusack (Dublin) ; Patrick J. Masterson (Dublin); John J. Walsh (Dublin). These were all members of the Society, our colleagues and our friends, and to-day on your behalf I express to their relatives our sincere sympathy. May I ask you, gentlemen, to rise with me for one moment in a silent tribute to their memory. You have had before you the Annual Report of the Council, which has been circulated, and having read it, you will have noted that for the Council it has been a busy year. There were thirteen full Council Meetings, ninety Committee Meetings, and twenty-eight Meetings of the Disciplinary Committee. The Report only shows the bare bone of the activities of the Council and does not reflect the enormous zeal and industry and to a large degree

the unrequited anonymity which lies behind this account of the work of the Council and its Com mittees. To a President it has been an inspiration to observe and support them. The work of the Council and in particular its Committees has increased in recent years and seems likely to increase yet further. The time is now coming when it may be necessary to review the Constitution and Bye-laws of the Society, and to consider whether it is necessary or desirable to make changes in the form of our organisation to secure the more effective performance of our work. In the first instance I want to refer to the need for organisation within the profession. There are 1,363 solicitors holding practising certificates, and the membership of the Society is 1,130. Allowing for the number of solicitors employed by the State and private concerns, the membership is satisfactory and represents over 80 per cent, of the solicitors in practice. But membership of the Society is not enough. Every solicitor should be a member and an active member of his local Bar Association. I have no doubt that if the occasion should arise, every member of the Society would act together as one man in defence of their essential interests; but we want all solicitors to take a greater interest in the day to day work. If the Society is to wield the influence and power to which it is entitled, it is necessary that every practising solicitor should be an active member of his local Association, and through that Association exercising his full influence and help in the working of the Society. At the last meeting I told you that there were only two counties in Ireland where there were no Bar Associations. Since then I have been in touch with solicitors in these areas. In one case I met the local solicitors and found a general realisation that an association would be of benefit. I hope that when my successor next addresses you, he will be able to tell you that there is an effective functioning Bar Association in every county in Ireland. I have been impressed too by the regional meetings which have been held this year. All who were present at these meetings have felt the benefit. May I suggest that from time to time there should be a regional meeting of solicitors in each province, which would be attended by the principal officers of the Society. I believe that such meetings would prove an effective link and would bring home to those solicitors who have a complete misconception of the functions of the Council, that it is not a body apart, but is composed of practising solicitors elected in each year by the solicitors throughout the country and working in their interest. 48