The Gazette 1958-61

PRESENTATION OF CERTIFICATES OF ADMISSION On November 24th the President at a ceremony in the Society's library presented certificates of admission to the undermentioned solicitors. In his address to the newly admitted solicitors the President said : Ladies and Gentlemen, Starting in life you have the advantages of youth, ideals, ambitions and hopes that have no limits. I wish you one and all success, and, what is more important, the qualities of character and mind upon which success is based. Every individual forms his own idea of the meaning of the word " success ", but the attainment is chimerical unless it involves bringing happiness and contentment to those with whom we come in contact—our families, our clients, the members of our profession and the community among whom we live. One's mind easily spans oceans and covers space. So, too, youthful ambition may leap from youth to greatness without considering the hard climb and the steps that lead upwards. Only by hard work, constant endeavour and persistent application can the beginner in any profession attain success. There is no easy way and no magic carpet to carry the young solicitor from the receipt of his certificate today to success in his profession. You all start from the same point, even though you may not be equally equipped at the starting point. The traits which will bring you success are character, work and knowledge in that order. Some have already, by their industry as students, cultivated habits of self-sacrifice, concentration and applica tion ; some, by their interest in games and debating societies, will have learned that it is more important to play according to the rules than to win; some, by the help which they have given their fellow students in their studies and the interest which they have taken in their student and college functions and societies, will have realised the importance of unselfishness. Be that as it may, he must now start again on a new life. Youth is impatient of results. Entry into a profession merely means that a young man has now attained sufficient knowledge under tuition and that he is in a position to study on his own. A bachelor's degree in a profession, as the name baccalarius shows, is merely a laurel berry or the smallest seed of honourable study. It is only by developing that seed and maintaining your studies throughout your entire professional careers, you can hope to be masters of the subject. The presentation of these parchments, therefore, does not imply the end of your studies, but rather the beginning of your

studies without formal tuition. Concentrate your minds on each aspect of your work from the small technicalities of the most methodical methods of filing, accounting and record keeping through the technical knowledge of the rules of law applying to each case, to a knowledge of the legal background where those rules fit into the general system of jurisprudence. It would be well perhaps if that study could be done for a few years in an office where you will get a good general training. From study, there will come knowledge and self-confidence and the ability to help one's clients and the courts of which you are officers. Industry and knowledge are, however, of little use, unless they are associated with character. In our profession, one needs perhaps a stronger character than in most other services, as there are more temptations in one's way. One meets nature in the raw when feelings are high and perhaps the worst traits in the characters of one's clients are for the moment predominant. Never let your zeal run away with your discretion. Remember that you exist to see justice is done and not to perpetrate an injustice by chicanery and remember also that even though your primary obligation is to your own clients, you also owe a duty to your opponents not to do anything unjust. The good solicitor will, as a rule, be unselfish. He will interest himself in matters outside the sphere of his own personal affairs. He will take an interest in his profession generally by joining his local Bar Association and the Law Society and the Solicitors' Benevolent Association, and he will interest himself also in the community around him. The following solicitors received certificates. Michael E. Binchy, M.A. (N.U.I.), Gortskagh, Charleville, Co. Cork ; Robert E. Blakeney, B.A., LL.B. (T.C.D.), Abbert, Saval Park, Dalkey, Co. Dublin; Michael G. Cody, Bagenalstown, Co. Carlow. isf place final examination June, Gold Medal, Findlater Scholarship ; John B. M. Doyle, B.C.L., LL.B. (N.U.I.), Rosbercon, New Ross, Co. Wexford ; Dermot F. Bouchier Hayes, B.C.L. (N.U.I.), 43 Lr. Leeson St., Dublin. ist place third law examination September ; Peter F. B. Houlihan, Athenry, Co. Galway ; Robert B. Haythornthwaite, B.A., LL.B. (T.C.D.), Vallombrosa, Bray, Co. Wicklow ; Thomas Jackson, 11 St. Stephen's Green, Dublin; John O. Lee, B.A., B.C.L. (N.U.I.), Anchorville, Connaught Ave., Cork; Brian O. Lyons, 25 Castle Park, Monkstown, Co. Dublin; Godfrey F. McDonald, 28 Dublin Street, Carlow; William J. McGuire, Attymanus, Kilnagross, Carrick-on-Shannon, Co. Leitrim. 4th place final examination June ; Richard R. Pierse, B.C.L. (N.U.I.), 64