The Gazette 1955-58

from motor insurance will also deal with a claim arising out of the unauthorised use of a State owned vehicle and Coras lompair fiireann will act similarly There is no doubt that the establishment of such a bureau is long overdue and thanks are due to the Minister and to the insurance companies for their approach to the matter. The International Bar Association of which the Society is a member will hold its next Inter national Conference in Oslo in July next. Some special items have been selected for discussion generally and in committee. The question of being officially represented at this Conference will no doubt be considered by the incoming Council. The matters for discussion are of great interest and apart altogether from our attending the conference officially it may be that some of our members would consider arranging to spend their holidays in Oslo about that time and attend at some of the discussions. Arising out of the very successful dinner held as part of our Centenary celebrations in 1952 it was decided to hold an Annual Dinner and this dinner was duly held in the years 1953 and 1954. The question of holding the dinner this year was considered by the Council and it was felt that the support in the past couple of years was not sufficient to warrant the holding of the function in the same form this year and accordingly, as you are aware, it has been decided to hold a reception for the members and their wives or lady friends in this building to-night. I have no doubt that the presence of the ladies will make this function not only more colourful but more enjoyable and I hope that we will have a very large gathering. In conclusion I would like to thank the Vice Presidents and the members of the Council for their assistance during the year. The passing of the Solicitors' Act increased tremendously the work of the Council and I am well aware of the abnormal amount of work which the various com mittees had to do during this year. To my colleagues of the Dublin Bar Association I would like to offer a special word of thanks for the assistance given by them to me and to the Council during the year. They brought many matters to the notice of the Council which affected materially not only solicitors in their Association but the profession as a whole. I would also like to express my tnanks and appreciation to my coll eagues of the various bar associations all over the country for their assistance to the Council during the year and for their kindness to me on my visits to them at various functions. The bar associations guarantee the independence of the profession and assist materially in maintaining our high ethical

standards and I feel that every solicitor should be a member of his local bar association as well as a member of the Society. Lastly I would like to offer my thanks to the staff of the Society for their great help during the year and particularly to the Secretary, Mr. Eric Plunkett. As I have already said the passing of the Act increased tremendously the work of the Council and Committees and no words of mine could illustrate how it increased the volume of the Secretary's work. The best tribute I can pay to him is to tell you that he got through it all with his usual efficiency. Mr. T. D. McLoughlin seconding the motion for the adoption of the report, congratulated the Council on adopting the new Education Regula tions. The report was then adopted. Mr. David Pigot proposed and Mr. John Carrigan seconded the following resolution :—" That in the opinion of the Members of this Society there is great and unnecessary delay in public offices and departments in dealing with legal and other business and that such delay operates to the detriment of the public, especially and the legal profession gen erally, and this Meeting requests that steps be taken immediately to rectify matters and eliminate all such delay in the future " Messrs. C. J. Daly, P. F. O'Reilly, J. B. McGarry and C. J. Gore Grimes also spoke to this resolution. It was stated that the worst delay occured in the Land Commission, the Land Registry, the Adjudication Office, the Probate Office and the Valuation Office. The Pres ident having put this resolution to the meeting declared it passed unanimously. It was decided that the action to be taken by the Society coming out of the resolution should be left to the new Council. Mr. Desmond Moran proposed and Mr. Joseph Barrett seconded the following resolution " That the Council ot the Law Society should support mandamus proceedings against the appropriate authorities arising out of the unauthorised dis continuance of the Index of Lands provided for by the Sect. 17 of the Registry of Deeds (Ireland) Act, 1832." Messrs. D. R. Pigot, Scan 0 hUadhaigh, C. J. Hyland, A. Cox, J. J. Sheil, P. R. Boyd, L. Williams and J. J. Hickey spoke to the motion. On the suggestion of Mr. P. R. Boyd and Senator Arthur Cox, Mr. Moran agreed to an adjournment on the understanding that the Council would inves tigate whether any useful purpose would be served by restoring the Index of Lands and that Mr. Moran might if he wished put down a motion for the next General Meeting. It was decided that the next Annual Meeting of this Society should be held on aznd November, 55