The Gazette 1991

GAZETTE

JU LY/AUGUST

1991

mony but the Law Society arranged a special ceremony for Irish solicitors, which was held at the Law Society on 19 March. As well as the original 68 solicitors admitted on 15 January, other Irish solicitors who had been admitted between then and 19 March also attended the ceremony. In total 82 Irish solicitors were presented with their admission certificates by Tony Holland, the President of the Law Society, on 19 March. This cere- mony took place in the very lovely Common Room at the Law Society's Hall in Chancery Lane, London. The President took the op- portunity to make a speech about the Law Society's attitude and policy to Europe and pointed out that the Law Society was the first such institution in Europe to be in a position to admit lawyers from another Member State under the terms of the Directive. Indeed the Directive also applies to profes- sionals other than lawyers and no " . . . the [English] Law Society wes the first such institution in Europe to be in a position to admit lawyers from another Member State under the terms of the Directive." other "competent authority" in any Member State has been in a position to allow the relevant professional people from another Member State to re-qualify in its own Member State. The Law Society can be justifiably proud of this achievement and certainly Irish solicitors in London were all impressed with the courtesy and efficiency which we experienced from the Law Society here. Let's hope that the Irish Law Society follows their good example! I anticipate that there will be several more Irish solicitors admitted here in the course of time. There are approximately 150 Irish solicitors practising in London and, while they might not all have rushed to ensure that they were admitted on the earliest possible date, they will no doubt apply to be admitted in due course. To celebrate the achievement of the principal aim of this Associa- tion, we hosted a reception at the Law Society on the evening of 19 March, to which we had invited, as well as our members and their

guests, representatives from both Law Societies, partners from major London City firms and from major Irish firms, representatives of the larger Irish companies and institutions with a presence in London and other legal dignitaries. The reception was a tremendous success and was enjoyed by all those present. The success of the reception is due in no small way to the generosity of William Fry, which, as all Gazette readers know, is one of the leading Irish firms, who had very kindly offered to sponsor the reception. Without William Fry's help, we would not have been able to host any form of celebratory event. We were particularly grateful to Owen O'Connell and Dan Morrissey, who had travelled from Dublin specially for the reception and to Gerry Halpenny, the resident partner in William Fry's London office. On my own behalf and on behalf of the Association I would like to extend our special thanks to Tony Holland for the way in which he conducted the admission cere- mony. All those present were impressed by the fact that he took the time and trouble to say a few words to everyone as he presented them with their certi- ficates. We were very honoured that he and his wife Kay came to our reception. Thanks are also due to John Hayes, the Secretary General of the Law Society, and John Randall, the Director of the Professional Standards and Development Directorate. Unfortunately, the President of the Irish Law Society, Don Binchy, was unable to attend the admission ceremony and reception but we were very pleased that Professor Richard Woulfe travelled from Dublin for the events. He was invited by the Law Society to join the "platform party" supporting the President at the admission ceremony. The President was also supported by Peter Johnson, the Chairman of the Law Society's Training Committee, and Alastair Nicholson, the Chairman of the Soc i e t y 's Transfer Casework Committee, both of whom had been involved in the re-admission process. I would like to thank Professor Woulfe for his help throughout in

connection with the re-qualification issue. Also, I would like to thank Don Binchy for his assistance, especially when he was Chairman of the Education Committee. We are also grateful to Tom Shaw, Maurice Curran and Ernest Margetson for the support which they gave to this Association during their respective Presidencies. On a personal level, I am very grateful to our Honourary Secretary James Healy for all his help in connection with the organisation of our celebratory reception. His secretary Anne Taylor deserves a special word of thanks, as does my own secretary Sarah Wing for all her help. The Association was delighted to hear of the appointment of our Vice "Although we have achieved our principal aim, this does not mean that the Association will now disappear." President Anne Counihan as legal adviser to the newly-established National Treasury Management Agency in Dublin. Unfortunately for us, this means that Anne has had to leave London but we are delighted to know that she will be flying the flag of the Association in Dublin. Although we have achieved our principal aim, this does not mean that the Association will now disappear! We intend to continue to represent the interests of Irish solicitors in London and to raise the profile of Irish solicitors here. We shall of course continue to host our annual Charity Balls at the National History Museum, which have been so successful in raising just under £24,000 to date to help deprived young Irish people in London. It is all too easy to forget in our success that we have been lucky and have received the benefit of a good education in Ireland and that, although we have worked hard to achieve our present positions, we owe a lot to the privileged positions from which we started. There are many other Irish people in London who have not been so lucky. (This year's Charity Ball took place on Saturday 11 May 1991) Finally, the Association has been re-named "The Irish Solicitors Bar Association (London)." •

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