The Gazette 1973

Local Authority Solicitors Association A Seminar was held by the Local Authority Solicitor's Association in the Clarence Hote, Dublin, on Friday 13 April 1973. The programme was as followfe:

Association might think well of recording their dis- cussions and publishing the papers read at the Seminars, that these could be extremely valuable to the members of the profession in general, and that he felt that if the papers were given to the Editor of the Law Society's Gazette, that the Editor would be most pleased to publish them and this would be done free of cost to the Association. He thanked Mr. Macken, the Gity and Comity Manager, Dublin, for attending the Seminar and re- ferred to the friendly relation between the Incorporated Law Society and the County Manager's Association. In 1956 an agreement had been entered into between these parties which had placed Solicitors in the local authority service in parity with Engineers and Doctors and this agreement has stood the test of time and is still greatly appreciated. He also welcomed Mr. William Dundon, newly appointed Law Agent to Dublin Corporation, and wished him well in his new and onerous post. The guests at the luncheon included Mr. Liam J. Lysaght, Chief State Solicitor, Mr. Patrick Morris.sey, Assistant City and County Manager, Mr. Eric A. Plunkett, Secretary of the Law Society, Mr. Brendan Kiernan, B.L., Legal Adviser, Department of Local Government and Mr. M. Murphy, B.L., Assistant Legal Adviser of the same Department. Mr. William Dundon formally welcomed the guests on behalf of the Association. The Association's Annual General Meeting was also held on that day and the following Officers were elected : Chairman : Michael J. Leech. Secretary and Treasurer : Dermot Loftus. Committee : Messrs. Timothy Murphy, Peter A. Fitz- patrick, Donal M. King, Henry Murray and Wil- liam Dundon. The chairman, Mr. Leech, in the course of the pro- ceedings read a letter of apology for non attendance from Mr. John A. Young, City Solicitor, Belfast Cor- poration, who wished the Seminar every success.

9.30 a.m.—Address of Mr. Peter Prentice, Senior Vice- President, Law Society, who declared the seminar open. 10.00 a.m.—A Paper entitled "Aspects of Compensation for Compulsory Purchase". Speaker : Matthew Purcell, M.A., LL.B., former Solicitor to Dublin County Council. 11.45 a.m.—Aspects of Planning Control. Speaker : Donal M. King, Solicitor, Cork County Council. The lunch was preceded by a Reception in City Hall, at which Mr. Matthew Macken, Dublin City and County Manager was host. 1.00 p.m.—Lunch at which the President of the Law Society attended. 2.30 p.m.—"The implications of the decision in Dutton v. Bognor Regis U.D.C." (1972) 1 AER 462. Patrick P. O'Sullivan, Solicitor, Dublin. A note of this case appears in the Gazette at page 4.00 p.m.—Open forum at which Mr. Brendan Kiernan, B.L., Legal Adviser and Mr. Michael Murphy, B.L., Assistant Legal Adviser Department of Local Government attended. 7.00 p.m.—Dinner. Mr. Prentice, Senior Vice-President of the Law Society, speaking at the lunch on behalf of the guests, stated that he was deputising for the President of the Incorporated Law Society of Ireland, who sent his very best wishes to the members of the Association present and greatly regretted his inability to be present. The Seminar which the Association described as their second venture, was much more to Mr. Prentice's mind an established fact than a venture and was of such excellence that the event is worthy of being repeated each year. The benefits of a Seminar, Mr. Prentice said, for those engaged in or practising in Local Govern- ment is that the members can discuss and talk over problems and this is all the more important in the Local Government Code which was described by the late Mr. Justice Gavan Duffy in the case of Devanney v. Dublin Board of Assistance (1949) I LTR 113 as "the vast domain of services under our local governing bodies where the relevant law is hard to ascertain and sometimes hard to construe". The late Mr. Justice Gavan Duffy recognising the complexities of the local government law described it as "terra incognita" and 1 think that this is an apt description. Mr. Prentice referred to the absence of suitable text books on various local government subjects. He stated that there was no publication on "Public Health" since Vanston's "Public Health" was published in 1913 and that Street's "Local Government", which was published in 1955, needs revision. Mr. Prentice suggested that the

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