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GAZETTE
JANUARY/FEBRUARY 1992
ally recommended to practising
lawyers, w ho will particularly
appreciate the enjoyment given by
an injection of humour into an
otherwise boring case; but non-
lawyers will also be entertained -
even if their image of the law in
a c t i on has been c r ea t ed by
Rumpole (alias, Leo McKern) on
television.
The reviewer must introduce a note
of criticism as to the number of
'typos' in the text (about twen t y ),
regrettable when the author, as
lawyers tend to do, has fine-tuned
his wo r d s. The t r oub le w i t h
typographical errors is that when
one is found, the reader is inclined
to be distracted, anticipating the
next one. One 'typo' the author
himself probably enjoyed was in the
course of the reference to a
'supergrass' trial in the Old Bailey
at wh i ch he was the presiding
judge. Part of the text reads (p.204):
" S o that the accused could not be
seen by t he public, wo o d en
shutters were placed around the
deck [sic]". Perhaps it was in
reality an admiralty case where
" t h e
d o c k "
b e c omes
" t h e
d e c k "!
Mr. Comyn's undoubted skills as
an advocate, judge and writer
(including his previously successful
books
Their Friends at Court
and
Irish at Law)
also extend to the
wr i t i ng of light verse, w i th a
se l ec t i on of wh i ch t he book
c o n c l u d e s.
I n c l uded
is
t he
following, entitled
"The River of
Goodness":
See the sober River Liffey
Saunter on in solemn state
Through the pleasant lands of
Wicklow
Till it gets to James's Gate.
See it t h e n, agush
w i t h
Guinness,
Stagger forward on its way
Till it passes out completely
When it gets to Dublin Bay.
Michael V. O'Mahony
18
The Trade Union and
Industrial Relations Acts of
Ireland
By Anthony Kerr, Sweet &
Maxwell, 250pp, Paperback,
IRE36.60
The Industrial Relations Act, 1990
came into effect in July, 1990 w i th
one of its main aims to 'make
further and better provision for
promoting harmonious relations
between workers and employers'.
This Act, which repealed the much
criticised Edwardian Trade Disputes
Act of 1906, was hardly 'a child of
po l i t i c al
exped i enc y,
has t i ly
conceived' or 'prematurely deliver-
ed' using Parke, J's words in his
criticism of the 1906 Act in his
judgment in
Goulding Chemicals -
v- Bo/ger and Others
(1977) IR 211.
Mr. Kerr provides a very useful and
i n t e r e s t i ng s umma ry of t he
gestation of the new Act.
Tony Kerr has rightly taken the
opportunity of the passing of the
new Act to provide us w i th a full
t e x t and c omme n t a ry on all
relevant trade union and trade
dispute legislation. The first part of
the book provides the up to date
text and commentary on the Trade
Union Act, 1871, the Conspiracy
and Protection of Property Act,
1875, the Trade Union Amendment
Act, 1876, and the Trade Union
Acts of 1913 to 1975. He has also
provided the various statutory
forms and other relevant material.
It is extremely useful having all this
documentation together because
as correctly stated in the Preface
'this material is not readily available
even to those w i th access to law
libraries'.
The second part of the book
provides us w i th the industrial
relations legislation namely the
Industrial Relations Acts of 1946 to
1990. These Acts established the
vo l un t a ry f r amewo rk for Irish
i ndus t r i al r e l a t i ons. A l t h o u gh
historically less interesting that the
previous section of the book, the
inclusion of the Labour Court Rules,
1946, makes fascinating reading
especially for the legal profession.
As stated above, the Irish system is
based on a code of voluntarism and
therefore an applicant to the Labour
Court should apply to the Court to
be represented by solicitor or
counsel. The Court will grant such
representation where it is of the
opinion that such representation is
merited. The reality is that the
Court will accept applicants being
represented by the legal profession
and recently many more employers
and employees are represented by
lawyers especially in equality cases
where the Labour Court has a
quasi-judicial role.
The Industrial Relations Act, 1990
reflects a modern Ireland. Tony Kerr
has provided us w i th an excellent
c omme n t a ry on t he va r i ous
sections of the new Act using as
source material both Irish and more
recent UK case law and, of course,
the Dail debates. Sadly, a number
of these cases are unreported;
however, Mr. Kerr has gone to a
great deal of trouble to refer to
valuable newspaper reports. This
was no easy task as the book has
been published within a year of the
commencement of the Act. One
may suggest that the book was
printed too quickly as there is a
considerable volume of useful info-
rmation in the Preface. Nonethe-
less, an excellent commentary is
provided on the new definitions of
'trade dispute', 'employer', 'in-
dustrial action' and 'strike'. In
summary, the Act continues the
system of immunities as under the
1906 Act to members of registered
trade unions in dispute. The new
requirement for secret ballots by
members of trade unions (coming
into effect in July, 1992), to include
aggregate balloting where there is
more than one union involved, and
strike notice are also considered.
Specific rules on one-person
disputes are very well highlighted
with reference to the case of
larnrod
Eireann -v- Darby and O'Connor -
March, 1991. The new constraints
on picketing are considered in some
detail to include the picketing of
industrial estates and ports.
Secondary picketing, although
unlawful under the new Act, may be
allowed in certain circumstances -
this is also considered.