The Gazette 1974

I EDITORIAL LEGAL AID

I 1973, but which has only just been published. Its main controversial proposal is to control the price of building land in the public interest. Local authorities would be given power to apply to the High Court to designate areas, in which, in its opinion, the lands would be used during the following ten years for the purposes (i) of p'roviding sites for houses on factories, and (ii) for ex' pansion and development. The Judge sitting with two assessors would determme; the price if no agreement could be reached. Com·' pensation would be limited to existing use value, pluS 25 %. Although this scheme is primarily aimed against I developers who have amassed fortunes, the amount appears rather low. Two dissentients to the majority report claim that there is no justification for this radical departure, on the ground that, even construmg the Constitution liberally, it would not be possible to offer an owner selling land less than its proper market value. They considered that such a compensation scheme would be hard to operate equitably, and might cau"e injustice. Whatever view is ultimately taken, any legislation proposed is certain to arouse controversy. " provincial delegates in accordance with bye-law 29 (a) of the Society and were returned unopposed. Ulster-John C. O'Carroll Munster-Dermot G. O'Donovan . A meeting of the scrutineers was held on Thursda1 22nd November, 1973 at 11 o'clock. The pool was con– ducted from 11 a.m. until 1 p.m. and the scrutmy was subsequently held. The result of the ballot was as follows: 581 envelopes containing ballot papers were receIved from members. The valid poll was 569. The following candidates received the number of votes placed after their name and were elected: John Carrigan 420, Mrs. Moya Quinlan 416, Patnd Noonan 415, John Maher 395, Anthony Collins 392, Patrick C. Moore 389, William A. Osborne 388, ThomaJ V. O'Connor 386, Brendan A. McGrath 385, Joseph L Dundon 382, Robert McD. Taylor 375, Bruce St. J. Blake 375, Peter E. O'Connell 369, James W. O'DonO' van 367, Francis J. Lanigan 366, Ralph J. Walker 364,. Walter Beatty 358, Michael P. Houlihan 351, Gerald Hickey 351, William B. Allen 349, Peter D. M. Prentice 347, Laurence Cullen 347, James R. C. Green 345, John B. Jermyn 338, George A. Nolan 335, Gerard M. Doyle 333, David R. Pigot 323, Patrick McEntee 318, Patrick F. O'Donnell 303, Ernest J. Margestson 298.' The foregoing candidates were returned as ordinary members of the Council for the year 1973/1974. Th~ President declared the result of the ballot in accordance with the Scrutineer's Report. On the motion of Mtj Mr. John Maher seconded by Mr. P. C. Moorel the audited accounts and balance sheet for the yeal ended 30 April 1973 circulated with the Agenda we~ adopted. Leinster-Christopher Hogan Connaught-Patrick J. McEllin

I t is satisfactory to note that the Minister for Justice, Mr. Cooney, proposes to establish a Committee to advise him on the introduction of legal aid in civil cases. What is even more important is that this Committee will be fully representative of the Legal profession as a whole, includin~ jud~es, barristers, solicitors and a member of the Free Legal Advice Centre (FLAC). The Minister rightly praised the tremendous work which up to now, had been undertaken by FLAC, and expressed the hope that the Committee would evolve a scheme of Legal Aid, which would aid financially the free services here– tofore provided by FLAC. The 80 law students of this or~anisation, supported by 40 barristers and 60 solici– tors, would have been physically unable to carryon without financial assistance. Let us hope, that, pending the completion of the Report, this will be provided rapidly as an interim measure. LAND DEVELOPMENT The Committee under the chairmanship of Mr. Justice Kenny, issued sOllie radical proposals about land de– velopment, in the Report which it presented in March The notice convening the meeting and the minutes of the ordinary general meeting held in Killarney in May 1973 were read, and they were subsequently signed. Presentation to Mr. Plunkett The President then made a presentation to Mr. Eric Plunkett upon his retirement as Secretary of the Society. This consisted in a cheque from ali the members, as well as a magnificent parchment, which it is hoped to publish in the Gazette subsequently. Mr. Plunkett, in thanking the members for their munificent ~ift, referred to the fact that, while it was the duty of the Secretariat to co-operate, there were occasions when it had to be unpopular. Having referred to some personalities in the Society such as Geor~e Wakely and Arthur Cox, he was glad to leave the Society in such a prosperous state after 30 years. Miss Thelma King, President of the Dublin Solicitors' Bar Association, wished Mr. Plunkett many years of happiness in his retirement on behalf of the members of her Association. A meeting of the scrutineers appointed at the Ordinary General Meeting of the Society held on 12th May 1973 together with the ex-officio scrutineers was held on 23 October 1973 at 1 o'clock. Nominations for ordinary membership of the Council were received from 31 candidates all of which were declared valid and the scrutineers directed that their names be placed on the ballot paper. The following candidates were duly nominated as 2 BALLOT FOR THE COUNCIL 1973/74- REPORT OF THE SCRUTINEERS

ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING The President (Mr. T. V. O'Connor) took the chair at 2.30 p.m. on Thursday, 29 November 1973.