The Gazette 1976

GAZETTE

SEP T EM BER 1976

10.3 Among the other major topics which have concerned the Committee since its establishment have been: (1) The establishment and monitoring of the Society's new Preliminary Examination which was held for the first time in July of 1976. (2) The monitoring of Courses which Regional Technical Colleges are establishing for School Leavers who wish to train as Law Clerks. This is an area of considerable concern to the Com- mittee who would wish to ensure that the products of such courses would be suitably trained and that the requirements of the profession would be paramount. (3) The provision of courses in the Universities for Apprentices in the new system who are not qualified to enter the Society's Law School and who must pass the Society's First Law Examina- tion in the "core subjects" (6 Law Subjects). (4) The provision of Day Release courses for existing Law Clerks. As the Society will in the future have adequate premises and substantial quantities of teaching materials, as well as more qualified instructors available, it has been suggested that some pilot schemes for Day Release courses for Law Clerks in the Dublin area should be established. It is also hoped to provide concentrated courses for Law Clerks from outside the Dublin area. (5) The development of the facilities in the portion of the Societys new premises which will be given over to Education. 10.4 As will be seen the range of the Committee's activities is considerable but I am pleased to say that a good deal of progress has been made on many fronts and for this the Members of the Committee deserve the considerable thanks of the profession for their exemplary attendance at Committee Meetings and the diligence with which they have participated in the work of the Committee.

11.1 During the year a number of articles, critical of the profession, appeared in National and Provineia Newspapers. These were considered by the Committee, and where the substance of any article appeared to have some foundation the matter was pursued either with the writer or the newspaper concerned, and as a result the profession's point of view was projected, and those concerned were encouraged to approach the Society in future rather than to rush into print without checking their facts. 11.2 In a number of cases it was decided to ignore the critical approach of some articles, where they were obviously motivated by bias and were patently ill-researched. As a result of the necessity to follow up adverse publicity without delay, the Committee met at short notice with a view to making an immediate response, and the Society's consultant, Mr. Maxwell Sweeney, was invaluable in his assistance on these occasions. 11.3 As a result of the necessary expansion in the secretariat's staff dealing with complaints, it is felt that the number of genuine causes for complaint has been reduced, and if this trend continues it is obvious that the volume of criticism will reduce, and hopefully appear mainly as the "crackpot" variety in the future. 11.4 The Committee feels that the news sheet which started in the previous year has helped as a means of communication to all the members of the profession. However, continuous concentration is necessary to expand and improve the communications media of the Society, and, with this end in view, the Society of Young Solicitors have agreed to contribute to the Society's Gazette in future issues. It has been arranged that their comment and articles will generally run into two pages, and when required further space will be provided. Their first contribution will deal with family law and they have put together a very interesting programme dealing with the law concerning marriage, which may be issued as a separate publication when the series ends. 11.5 Mr. John F. Buckley, at the suggestion of the President of the High Court, approached the Committee with a view to reporting unreported judgments in the Gazette, and this has now commenced and is on the basis that the pages carrying these judgments-can be extracted from each issue and kept by members on an easy reference file. 11.6 The Committee approved of a leaflet concerning the future educational requirements of apprentices and this was, in fact, circulated with the application for practising certificates in January 1976. In the same month, Mr. Preben Scheel lectured on E.E.C. Agricultural Law in the Society's library.

PUBL IC RE LAT I ONS COMM I T T EE

Walter Beatty,

Chairman

Michael P. Houlihan William D . McEvoy Brendan A. McGrath Peter Murphy Thomas M. D. Shaw Mrs. Moya Quinlan

iValter Beatty ,

Chairman