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GAZETTE
A
PRIL
1990
The Irish Solicitors in London Bar
Association's Second Charity Ball
The Irish Solicitors in London Bar
Association hosted its second
Charity Ball at the Natural History
Museum in South Kensington,
London on Saturday 12 May 1990.
We were honoured that Don
Binchy, the Senior Vice President of
the Incorporated Law Society of
Ireland, attended the Ball with his
wife Joan. We were also delighted
that John Randall, the Director of
the Professional Standards and
Development Directorate of The
Law Society (of England and
Wales), who has been most sup-
portive and helpful to our Associa-
tion, was able to attend also.
Robert Johnston, a retired partner
of McCann FitzGerald now living in
London, who is the outgoing Presi-
dent of the Confederation Fiscale
Europeenne and a member of our
Association, also attended the Ball
with his wife Meeda.
Max Abrahamson, who, as the
leading construction lawyer in the
British Isles, is undoubtedly the
Irish solicitor best known in English
legal circles, delivered the principal
speech of the evening, the after-
dinner toast to tne Association.
Max, who is also a member of our
Association, made a most amusing
speech, which presented me with
some difficulty in having to follow
him when, on behalf of the
Association, I proposed a toast to
our guests!
In 1989 the Organising Com-
mittee embarked on the organisa-
tion of a Charity Ball with some
trepidation. Fortunately our fears
were ill-founded and owing to the
tremendous support which we re-
ceived from our members and from
several Irish firms of solicitors and
other Irish companies, we raised
£10,500 sterling for the benefit of
a very worthy cause, the then
newly-established UK Branch of the
Irish Youth Foundation. This was
particularly encouraging and con-
vinced us that the Ball was an
event which should become an
annual one. Last year's Ball had the
welcome secondary result of
enhancing the image and reputa-
tion of Irish solicitors in London.
The profit from the 1989 Ball
was passed by the Irish Youth
Foundation to the Irish Welfare
Bureau in Hammersmith, which is
run by Father Jim Kiely and which
helps deprived young Irish people
by providing shelter and counsell-
ing. It was decided that the profit
from the 1990 Ball would also be
given to the UK Branch of the Irish
Youth Foundation and passed by
them, in consultation with our
Association, to a suitable charity
helping deprived young Irish people
in London.
By
Cliona M O'Tuama,
B.C.L. (N.U.I.), A.I.T.I.
Solicitor
(President of the Irish
Solicitors in London Bar
Association)
I am very honoured to have been
made a Trustee of the Irish Youth
Foundation (UK) last summer and
to have been able to participate in
a positive way in the work done by
this worthy charity in overseeing
the distribution of funds raised to
assist worthwhile projects for the
benefit of young Irish people in
London and elsewhere in Britain, I
am so pleased that the Irish
Solicitors in London Bar Associa-
tion has been able to contribute to
such a worthy cause.
We were delighted to welcome to
our Ball Cathal Ryan, the Chairman
of the UK Branch of the Irish Youth
Foundation.
As with last year, we were over-
whelmed by the support which we
received from Irish firms of solici-
tors and other Irish companies. In
particular, we were delighted when
AIB Bank and Aer Lingus, each of
whom has a very significant pre-
sence in Britain, agreed to be joint
sponsors of our 1990 Ball.
As with last year, we received
tremendous support from William
Earley, one of the London-resident
partners of McCann FitzGerald, and
that firm donated £1,000 towards
our cause, as well as taking a
corporate table at the Ball. William
will be returning to Dublin later in
the summer and will be sadly
missed in London legal circles and
particularly by our Association.
Other generous donations were
received from Eugene F. Collins,
William Fry and Matheson Ormsby
Prentice.
Max Abrahamson took two cor-
porate tables at the Ball on behalf
of his Dublin office and the
international partnership of Baker &
McKenzie, in which he is a partner.
As with last year, Murray Sweeney
of Limerick and Dublin was one of
the first Irish firms to offer to take
a corporate table and also pre-
sented two magnificent piefces of
crystal as raffle prizes. Joe
Sweeney hosted their table and his
guests included partners from the
London firm Nabarro Nathanson,
with whom Murray Sweeney now
has an informal link. A & L
Goodbody, whose London office
has been operating for almost two
years, also took a corporate table,
which was hosted by one of their
London-resident partners, Paul
Carroll.
Other lawyers over from Ireland
included Declan Moylan, a partner
in Dublin firm Mason Hayes &
Curran and barrister Richard
Nesbitt.
Of course our joint sponsors AIB
Bank and Aer Lingus also took
corporate tables. Other "Irish" cor-
porate tables were taken by Anglo-
Irish Bank Corp and the British-
based Irish construction companies
M F Clancy & Sons Limited and J
J McGinley Limited. M F Kent
Limited, the Irish engineers and
contractors who operate all over
the world, also hosted a corporate
table.
The major US bank Manu-
facturers Hanover Limited was
another significant donor to our
cause and had a corporate table
too.
We are delighted that our Ball has
become an annual event on the
social calendar not only of Irish
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