The Gazette 1971

It had been intimated to him through the crier that no objection would be taken to an attorney engaged in a case sitting in the Inner Bar seat beside his senior counsel. The resolution was allowed to drop. The Secretary then stated on the part of the Council, and as a matter of information to the members of this Society, that the Royal Commission had been opened on Friday, May 26th last, before Lord Monck and Mr. Lefanu, two of the commissioners therein named, that Messrs Christopher Palles, Q.C., Robert W. Shekleton, and Gerald Fitzgibbon appeared on behalf of this Society. That Mr. Palles stated the case of the attorneys in a very able manner, and that the commissioners had made an order that the following returns should be furnished on or before June 20th to Mr. M. J. Barry, their secretary, by Mr. O'Hanlon, under-treasure, act- ing on behalf of the Benchers of the King's Inns, viz. : A return of the sums received from 1793 to 1866 from attorneys as "Deposits for Chambers", specifying the amount received each year and the number of attorneys who paid; an account of the manner in which the money has been applied, and disposed of, and a return of the amount of Government Funds, the property of

the Society of King's Inns since 1793. And that Lord Monck had stated that, after receipt of the returns ordered,. the Commissioners would appoint a day for inspection of such parts of the Solicitors' Buildings as were now in possession of the Society of Attorneys and Solicitors, and would subsequently appoint a day for next sitting of the Commissioners. Mr. Henry Mills : That is a very satisfactory state- ment indeed. I am sure this Society ought to feel much obliged to the Council for the way in which they have, so far, managed this matter, and we hope they will continue their exertions, and that the result may be satisfactory. On the motion of Mr. Ellis, the standing orders were suspended so as to allow Mr. Rea to propose the follow- ing resolution, which having been seconded by Mr. W. Roche, was adopted, viz. : "That the secretary be auth- orised to take subscriptions from all solicitors (not being members in 1870), without making any demand f )r alleged arrears due before 1st May 1871." Mr. Barlow, V.P., was then called to the chair, and the thanks of the meeting having been unanimously voted to Sir R. J. T. Orpen, President, as chairman, the meeting separated. helpful. The Marriage Guidance Clinic in Westland Row — the only one operating in the city — does valuable work, but was completely inadequate to deal properly with the situation." Reconciliation Though he mostly blamed husbands who were "in- variably less mature than their wives" he said that her nagging and refusal of sexual relations was also decisive. However, the wife usually only refused when another child would be a danger to her health or could not be supported. In these cases either the couples did not know about contraceptives or they were unwilling to use them. The marriage contract in Ireland can only be dis- solved by "deed of separation" where both parties agree or by divorce where one is unwilling. Mr. Gallagher thought that though full divorce caused more problems than it would solve, separation, if made easier and handled by the Circuit Court instead of the High Court would help many people. Because there are no courses in marriage law in the Republic and most solicitors consider marriage cases to be difficult and prolonged, they are unwilling to undertake them and prefer reconciliation if possible. However, where they were 11 per cent successful in achieving deeds of separation the organisation had only a 5 per cent success rate in effecting reconciliation. Only seven per cent of their cases were initiated by the husbands and the remaining 93 per cent were by the wives. In 7 per cent of these, adultery was quoted as a cause and "highly unnatural sex offences against the wives" were responsible in a further seven per cent. Surprisingly, 75 per cent of their cases were in families of less than five children and only 25 per cent among larger families, Mr. Gallagher said. 103

U.C.D. Legal Advice Centre Between 50 and 60 per cent of the clients of the UCD Free Legal Advice Centre have serious marital problems it was revealed today. The causes of the problems are very complex but the main one is economic.

The chairman of the centre, Mr. Brian Gallagher said today that of those who make use of the free legal advice, 55 p.c. are "working class," 30 per cent are "middle class" and 5 per cent are "upper class." He added that because ours is a competitive society, a man without work feels inadequate and consequently takes it out on his wife. In 50 per cent of the cases violence in the form of fisticuffs mainly was involved and in a small number axes and knives were used, said Mr. Gallagher. "Drink is a result, as well as a cause, of this and 30 per cent of the cases involved very heavy drinking or alcoholism while 60 per cent involved moderate to heavy drinkers," he added. Priests as Counsellors Mr. Gallagher went on to say that lack of recreation- al facilities is also a very real problem and because of this young couples are forced together under unsavoury conditions. "The Free Legal Advice Centre found that many forced marriages resulted from this, due to pre-marital intercourse and pregnancy. These marriages invariably fail. Forty per cent of the organisation's marital prob- lems were in the first ten years of marriage, especially from those who get married under 21. Because these had to live with in-laws, the subsequent overcrowding increased the pressure on them," he added. Mr. Gallagher went on to say that the lack of sym- pathetic marriage counselling gave the couples even less chance of success. "Though priests in general tend to be more concerned with the rigid application of the moral law, there are a limited number who are very