The Gazette 1967/71

his years of hard work. It is pleasant for their parents and relatives to see the education which they have given them, in many cases I am sure with considerabel sacrifice, so richly crowned with success and pleasant for me to have as one of the last official actions I shall perform, the duty of handing over these certificates and admit these new members to our profession. It is not necessary for me to add to what has already been told to you by your masters that what you have chosen is a profession and not a business abrogation simply. Being a profession it carries not only professional privileges but also duties of a very high order, it is this sense of duty to a client and to the court of which he is an officer, and to the public that has marked our profession over the years and has found it the high esteem in which it is held by the public. That is a very great trust which has been handed down to us by those who went before us and we must be car'eful to see that we hand it on to those who will succeed us in tact and even in hand. This is probably an appropriate time, to make a few remarks about entry to our profession, I mentioned in my half yearly address that the number of applicants for indentures is greatly in creased in recent years, indeed in the last six years it has increased over three times. Further more the rate of intake is approaching three times the rate of wastage. With these statistics, I seem to make a case for limiting the number of entrants to our profession. But it has always been a mark of our profession that it was and is open to any one to enter it and please God we intend to keep it that way. We are probably the only profession now to which there is unlimited entry. In most other professions the entry is limited in one way or another. Not only is our entry not limited, but, so far we have placed no restriction on the number of times a student may sit examinations, although a student who is obviously either not working or not making the grade is encouraged to see if he can find some other calling in life, which is more suited to his talents. It is provided by Statute that a master except in certain specific circumstances can have no more than one appren tice at the one time. This wise provision was made by the Legislature so that the apprentice should get the maximum opportunity of benifit- ing from his master's undivided attention. This at first sight would appear to be a limiting factor bst quite clearly when the figures are examined it can have no such affect. There are three hundred offices comprising about six hundred solicitors in Dublin alone, there are another six or seven 78

Christopher Hogan, Rory O'Connor, Augus tus Cullen, Peter D. M. Prentice, James R. Desmond J. Collins, John O'Meara, Bruce St. J. Blake, John J. Nash, B. J. O'Connor, Desmond Moran, John B. Jerniyn, P. C. Moore, Brendan A. McCrath, Eunan McCarron, Francis J. Lani- gan, John Maher, T. V. O'Connor, Gerald Hickey, Gerard M. Doyle, Norman T. S. Spend- love, Francis Armstrong, William A. Osborne, Peter E. O'Connell, John Carrigan, Joseph L. Dundon, B. J. Carroll, Walter Beatty, Gerard J. Moloney, James W. O'Donovan and Robert McD Taylor. Extraordinary Members of the Council: Messrs. Gerard M. Doyle, Richard Knight, and Rory O'Connor were appointed as extraordinary members of the Council being members of the Dublin Solicitors' Bar Association. The nominees of the Southern Law Association who were appointed as extraordinary members are Bernard J. Carroll, John B. Jerniyn, Gerald J. Moloney, John F. Foley, John A. O'Meara. The nominees of the Incorporated Law Society of Northern Ireland, appointed as extraordinary members were : Michael G. Bready, Sydney Lomas, Patrick Maxwell, Frederick H. Mullan, and James J. Napier. Election of President and Vice-Presidents Mr. Eunan McCarron, Solicitor, 9 Upr. Mount St., Dublin, was elected President. Mr. McCarron is a partner in the firm T.T.L. Overend, McCar ron & Gibbon, Lower Mount Street, Dublin, Mr. McCarron who was admitted in Hilary 1942 has been a member of the Council continually since 1957. Mr. McCarron is secretary of the Solicitors Benevolent Association. James R. C. Green of the firm of Maxwell Weldon & Company, Lower Baggot St., Dublin, was elected Senior Vice-President. James W. O'Donovan of James W. O'Donovan & Company, 53 South Mall, Cork was elected Junior Vice-President. ADMISSION CEREMONY Twenty five newly qualified solicitors were pre sented with their parchments by the President, Patrick Noonan, at Solicitors Buildings on Wed nesday 3rd December 1968. The President ad dressing the newly qualified solicitors and their friends said :— Ladies and Gentlemen, this is a very pleasant occasion for us all. It is pleasant, of course, above all for the newly admitted solicitor, who now holds in his hands the well earned award of all