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GAZETTE
SEPTEMBER 1979
A day in the life of Two Consultants,
Six Tutors and Ninety-Seven
New Apprentices
Joseph B. Mannix
Date:
Thursday, 15 November.
Subject:
Probate and Administration (Day 2).
Objective:
To be able to take instructions after death of
Testator, to complete Inland Revenue Affidavit and all
other papers and matters to lead to a grant of probate.
Consultants:
Eamonn Mongey, Probate Officer; Peter
Quinlan, Solicitor.
Tutors:
Joan O'Mahony, Paul Foley, Emer Gilvarry,
David McMahon, Fintan Clancy, Geraldine Pearse.
A Quartz or Seiko is almost certainly required by
anyone involved in the second Professional Course under
the New Regulations. The morning breaks at 9.30 a.m.
sharp and there is no room for argument, accident or
absence by a mere minute. Christies of London, when
they hold auctions, announce boldly to the world:
"Auction begins at 11.00 a.m.
precisely".
The Pro-
fessional Course begins at 9.30 a.m.
precisely
and that's
that.
At the top table from left to right: Eamon Mongey and Peter Quinlan,
consultants for the Probate Course.
It is not adulation to time-keepers that this is so.
Punctual attendance is deemed important because the
most and the best of a Consultant's tuition can only be
acquired by being present. There is the further important
aim of avoiding disruption of the training sessions and
ensuring courtesy to the teaching teams. It was therefore
found necessary to have a certain and definite starting-
time and anybody who failed to make it by then suffered
the consequences i.e. being locked out until the first
break in the morning and being marked absent. This
seems harsh in not taking into account ordinary features
of life such as early morning traffic jams, the possibility of
a puncture on bike or car, illness etc. and is not greeted
with enthusiasm or endearment by apprentices in general.
One apprentice - Northern Irish, in origin - praised the
tight schedule for introducing and disciplining people to
office hours.
Peter Quinlan supervising a group of Apprentices at work.
The day's programme began with an introduc-
tion by Eamonn Mongey and a demonstration, pre-
recorded on closed circuit television, of the taking
of instructions to extract a grant of probate. Then,
the first exercise of the day (there were three in all)
took place. These exercises, by way of explanation,
are the best representation of the learning-by-doing
philosophy behind the Professional Course. For the
first one, apprentices paired off in twos, the one acting as
solicitor, the other as client in an attempt to take, or give,
instructions towards extracting a grant of probate. Each
tutor — the student: tutor ratio strived at is 12:1 — after
checking his or her particular group reported satisfactory
results. Indeed, it is obvious without really pursuing it that
all apprentices deeply appreciate this feature of the
course. A "couple of star performers" were put in front of
the camera and their effort was later relayed, with much
amusement, on the closed circuit television. The level of
imagination displayed and the trick questions and
answers given brought delight to all.
At 11 o'clock there was a twenty minute cofTee break
after which the first exercise was reviewed. Then, the func-
tion and filling out of the Inland Revenue Affidavit was
explained and demonstrated. This was later to be put to
its practical application in the second exercise but now, at
fifteen minutes past mid-day, an adjournment for lunch
was called. Time, ladies and gentlemen, time.
After lunch, the second exercise was undertaken in the
tutorial rooms. A surgical review was later carried out,
back in the lecture hall. Again, reports from tutors were
good. The over-all impression, shared by Consultants and
Tutors alike, was, in respect to the intelligence and
interest of the apprentices, that questions were lively and
incisive and on a couple of occasions, went outside the
scope of the subject.
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