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GAZETTE
JULY/AUGUST 1990
Law Society Minutes of the Half-Yearly Meeting held at the
Hotel Europe, Killarney, Co. Kerry on Friday, 4th May 1990.
1. ADDRESS AND WELCOME BY
KERRY LAW SOCIETY
Addressing the meeting on behalf
of the Kerry Law Society, Ms. Mary
O'Halloran, Secretary, welcomed
the members of the profession
attending the Conference to Kerry.
Ms. O'Halloran extended a special
word of welcome for the Society's
official guests and delegates who
had travelled from abroad to attend.
She also expressed her thanks to
the Bank of Ireland in Killarney who
had supported the Conference and
the activities of the Kerry Law
Society.
2. NOTICE CONVENING THE
MEETING
The Director General read the
Notice convening the meeting
which had been circulated to the
profession prior to the meeting.
3. MINUTES OF THE ANNUAL
GENERAL MEETING HELD IN
BLACKHALL PLACE, DUBLIN 7,
ON 15TH NOVEMBER 1989.
The minutes of the Annual General
meeting which had been published
in the March 1990 issue of the
Gazette
were signed by the
President, Ernest J. Margetson.
4. APPOINTMENT OF SCRUTINEERS
OF BALLOT FOR COUNCIL ELECTION
1990/91
The meeting approved of the
appointment of the following to act
as Scrutineers for the Council
Election 1990/91:
Walter Beatty
John Maher
Laurence F. Branigan Donal O'Hagan
Terence Dixon
Hugh O'Neill
Andrew Donnelly
Peter Prentice
Eamonn Hall
John C. Reidy
Clare Leonard
William Young
The President availed of the
opportunity to pay tribute to
Roderick Tierney who had been
assoc i a t ed w i t h t he Council
Election for over 50 years as a
Scrutineer and who was now
retiring. On behalf of the profession
he thanked Mr. Tierney for his
enormous contribution to the
profession over the years. The
President t hen presented Mr.
Tierney with a tie pin to mark his
r e t i r emen t. In ac cep t i ng the
presentation Mr. Tierney expressed
his thanks to the Council of the
Society. He put on record his own
app r ec i a t i on
of
the
wo rk
undertaken by the Council on
behalf of the profession. Mr.
Tierney indicated that in matters
relating to the Council Election he
had reservations as to the efficacy
of some of the changes which had
been made in recent years. If the
Council decided at some date in the
future to reveiw the manner in
which the Election is conducted he
asked t hat it d r aw on t he
experience of the Scrutineers in
undertaking its review.
5. ADDRESS BY THE PRESIDENT,
ERNEST J. MARGETSON
In his address to the delegates, the
President referred to the changing
nature of the profession. Already
such topics as multidisciplinary
partnership and limited liability for
solicitors firms were being con-
sidered. At the moment the
profession was awaiting the report
from the Fair Trade Commission on
the legal profession. The President
said he would like to "assure the
profession that the Society will use
its utmost endeavour to maintain
the status quo and in fact seek
improvements as long as what is
being done is for the benefit of the
public".
The President welcomed the
recent appointment of a Registrar
to the Land Registry. Referring to
the deficiencies in the service
provided by the Land Registry the
President described the delays and
arrears as "scandalous" and said
it was an area " i n which as a
profession we must continue to
keep pressure on the Government
to provide a reasonable service for
relatively simple matters which
affect so many members of the
population, namely the transfer of
property". The President said that
the work of the Courts was also
subjected to delays because of
staff shortages. At the same time,
he ac cep t ed t hat the s t a ff
operating the Court Offices and the
Land Registry work hard to provide
the best service they can with the
limited resources at their disposal.
The President called on the
Government to provide a proper
service which would support the
administration of justice and not
impede it, which was the case at
present.
The President urged the pro-
fession to support the Solicitors
Financial and Property Services
Company. Members of the pro-
fession should be conscious of the
fact that solicitors, especially
family solicitors, are generally fully
au fait with the financial situation
of their clients and thus are in the
best position to advise. Members of
the profession should avail of the
services of the Solicitors Financial
and Property Service which puts
the requisite financial expertise at
the immediate disposal of the
solicitor advising a client.
The President stressed the need
for all members to carry Indemnity
Insurance. The Society now had its
own company the Solicitors Mutual
Defence Fund. The Fund was in a
position to offer cover to members
at the same premium as in the
initial year of operation and with
increased limit of cover.
Concluding his address, the
President said that 1992 presented
the profession with a challenge.
The profession had to " be prepared
to face that challenge and to go
forward in an efficient and com-
petitive approach but at the same
time always remembering the high
standards of the profession to
which we can all be proud to be
members".
6. REPORT ON THE RETIREMENT
FUND
The Director General informed the
meeting that the Fund which had
been established in 1975 now had
a current Value of £14.2m. This
figure represented an 18.6%
increase on last year. The Unit
value of the Fund s t ood at
273.432. While the investment
performance for 1989 was satis-
factory wi th Irish Equities doing
particularly well predictions were
that 1990 would be a difficult year.
Increases in membership were at a
satisfactory level. Benefits such as
an income continuance plan and
life assurance cover together with
tax savings made up some of the
bene f i ts
wh i ch
membe r sh ip
conferred on members.
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