The Gazette 1993

GAZETTE NOVEMBER 1993

Law Society/ICL Niall McCarthy Essay Prize

The Minister for Justice, Maire j Geoghegan Quinn, TD, recently

presented prizes in the inaugural Law Society/ICL Niall McCarthy Essay Prize Competition at a reception in the j Law Society. The purpose of the Essay Prize which was named in honour of the memory of the late Hon. Mr Justice Niall McCarthy, Judge of the Supreme Court, is to raise awareness amongst lawyers of the impact which information technology will have on | their practices in the future. j All law students in Ireland, North and I South, were eligible to enter the competition. The winners of the inaugural competition were: Maureen Kelly, Co. Down, for her essay on hypertext, Kevin Greer, a graduate of Queens University, Belfast, for an essay on computerised litigation I support systems, and Evelyn McAdams, j a Dublin student, who wrote a paper on database protection. A special award was made to Colin Kelly, Dublin, for j his essay on computer crime in Ireland. I The winners received prizes of cheques ! and ICL computers. j At the awards ceremony, Peter Maguire, SC, spoke movingly in memory of the late Niall McCarthy. He said two aspects of the competition would have particularly delighted Niall McCarthy. Firstly, Niall McCarthy had a passion for words and a meticulous regard for structure and brevity which was particularly to be seen in his dissenting judgments. Secondly, Niall McCarthy would have been very pleased that the competition, dedicated to his memory, was open to all law students on the island of Ireland. "Niall McCarthy was dedicated to bringing the Bar and the Bench in the Republic of Ireland together with the Bar and the Bench in Northern Ireland", he said, "as indeed are both professions." Peter Maguire said that Niall McCarthy was a man of unique sincerity, brilliance, courage and intellect which was tempered with the utmost modesty and

At the presentation of prizes at the Law Society/ICL Niall McCarthy Essay Prize Competition were l-r: Michael O'Mahony, President, Law Society; Maureen Kelly, Co. Down, winner of first prize; Richard Christou, Director of Legal Affairs, ICL Europe; Maire Geoghegan-Quinn TD, Minister for Justice and David MacDonald, Managing Director, ICL (Ireland) Ltd.

said that technology in the courts was an issue that had not moved as quickly as she would have liked, but much progress had been made in 1993 and, with the increased funding, substantial progress would be made in the future. Michael O'Mahony, then Senior Vice President of the Law Society, thanked the judges and all those who had worked on the competition. He said the objective of the Technology Committee of the Society in organising the competition was to promote the use of information technology by solicitors in their practices and to heighten awareness amongst the legal profession of the importance of technology for the efficient running and management of legal practices. He expressed particular appreciation to Mr. David MacDonald, Managing Director, ICL Computers (Ireland) Ltd., for their generous sponsorship which included bearing the cost of the competition and awarding computer equipment and cash prizes to the four best entrants.

coupled with an impish sense of humour. David MacDonald, Managing Director of ICL Computers (Ireland), the sponsor of the essay prize, told those attending that information technology in the future would be measured on how it was used not what it could do. Its effective application was the key to its success. He said that ICL, which was one of the leading suppliers of information technology to the legal i profession, was delighted to be associated with the essay competition. S Minister for Justice, Mrs. Maire Geoghegan-Quinn, TD, said in her I address to the gathering, that an increase of almost 50% on the 1992 figure would be allocated to computerisation in the courts this year; j over £300,000 would be spent. The ; money would be used to buy equipment and software for the courts but, in ! particular, would be used for the case ! tracking system in the Central Office of j the High Court, which would become operational within a few weeks. She

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