The Gazette 1990

GAZETTE

A PRIL 1990

The Irish Solicitors in London Bar Association's Second Charity Ball

tion of Irish solicitors in London. The profit from the 1989 Ball was passed by the Irish Youth Foundation to the Irish Welfare Bureau in Hammersmith, which is run by Father Jim Kiely and which helps deprived young Irish people by providing shelter and counsell- ing. It was decided that the profit from the 1990 Ball would also be given to the UK Branch of the Irish Youth Foundation and passed by them, in consultation with our Association, to a suitable charity helping deprived young Irish people in London.

The Irish Solicitors in London Bar Association hosted its second Charity Ball at the Natural History Museum in South Kensington, London on Saturday 12 May 1990. We were honoured that Don Binchy, the Senior Vice President of the Incorporated Law Society of Ireland, attended the Ball with his wife Joan. We were also delighted that John Randall, the Director of the Professional Standards and Development Directorate of The Law Society (of England and Wales), who has been most sup- portive and helpful to our Associa- tion, was able to attend also. Robert Johnston, a retired partner of McCann FitzGerald now living in London, who is the outgoing Presi- dent of the Confederation Fiscale Europeenne and a member of our Association, also attended the Ball with his wife Meeda. Max Abrahamson, who, as the leading construction lawyer in the British Isles, is undoubtedly the Irish solicitor best known in English legal circles, delivered the principal speech of the evening, the after- dinner toast to tne Association. Max, who is also a member of our Association, made a most amusing speech, which presented me with some difficulty in having to follow him when, on behalf of the Association, I proposed a toast to our guests! In 1989 the Organising Com- mittee embarked on the organisa- tion of a Charity Ball with some trepidation. Fortunately our fears were ill-founded and owing to the tremendous support which we re- ceived from our members and from several Irish firms of solicitors and other Irish companies, we raised £10,500 sterling for the benefit of a very worthy cause, the then newly-established UK Branch of the Irish Youth Foundation. This was particularly encouraging and con- vinced us that the Ball was an event which should become an annual one. Last year's Ball had the welcome secondary result of enhancing the image and reputa-

corporate table at the Ball. William will be returning to Dublin later in the summer and will be sadly missed in London legal circles and particularly by our Association. Other generous donations were received from Eugene F. Collins, William Fry and Matheson Ormsby Prentice. Max Abrahamson took two cor- porate tables at the Ball on behalf of his Dublin office and the international partnership of Baker & McKenzie, in which he is a partner. As with last year, Murray Sweeney of Limerick and Dublin was one of the first Irish firms to offer to take a corporate table and also pre- sented two magnificent piefces of crystal as raffle prizes. Joe Sweeney hosted their table and his guests included partners from the London firm Nabarro Nathanson, with whom Murray Sweeney now has an informal link. A & L Goodbody, whose London office has been operating for almost two years, also took a corporate table, which was hosted by one of their London-resident partners, Paul Carroll. Other lawyers over from Ireland included Declan Moylan, a partner in Dublin firm Mason Hayes & Curran and barrister Richard Nesbitt. Of course our joint sponsors AIB Bank and Aer Lingus also took corporate tables. Other "Irish" cor- porate tables were taken by Anglo- Irish Bank Corp and the British- based Irish construction companies M F Clancy & Sons Limited and J J McGinley Limited. M F Kent Limited, the Irish engineers and contractors who operate all over the world, also hosted a corporate table. The major US bank Manu- facturers Hanover Limited was another significant donor to our cause and had a corporate table too.

By Cliona M O'Tuama, B.C.L. (N.U.I.), A.I.T.I. Solicitor (President of the Irish Solicitors in London Bar Association)

I am very honoured to have been made a Trustee of the Irish Youth Foundation (UK) last summer and to have been able to participate in a positive way in the work done by this worthy charity in overseeing the distribution of funds raised to assist worthwhile projects for the benefit of young Irish people in London and elsewhere in Britain, I am so pleased that the Irish Solicitors in London Bar Associa- tion has been able to contribute to such a worthy cause. We were delighted to welcome to our Ball Cathal Ryan, the Chairman of the UK Branch of the Irish Youth Foundation. As with last year, we were over- whelmed by the support which we received from Irish firms of solici- tors and other Irish companies. In particular, we were delighted when AIB Bank and Aer Lingus, each of whom has a very significant pre- sence in Britain, agreed to be joint sponsors of our 1990 Ball. As with last year, we received tremendous support from William Earley, one of the London-resident partners of McCann FitzGerald, and that firm donated £1,000 towards our cause, as well as taking a

We are delighted that our Ball has become an annual event on the social calendar not only of Irish (Contd. on pit78)

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