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GAZETTE
JUNE 1996
Solicitors Benevolent Association
At the recent AGM of the Association,
the Chairman,
Tom Menton,
made the
point that many members of the
profession are not aware that the
Association is entirely separate from
the Law Society. It is a thirty-two
county organisation and our September
meeting will be held in Belfast.
N o doubt ma ny of you will not have
j had time to study the accounts for
1995 wh i ch were recently circulated
I
to the profession. Had w e not been
j
fortunate e n o u gh to receive an
exceptional legacy of £ 5 0 , 0 00 during
the year from a very kind benefactor
w e wo u ld have had a deficit of
£ 2 4 , 0 0 0 for the year. It is highly
likely that a large deficit can be
anticipated for the current year. The
total amount of grants paid out in
1995 to those in need of assistance
was £ 1 8 5 , 3 62 as against £ 8 9 , 2 28 paid
out in 1985. S e v e n t y - o ne persons
were assisted in 1995 wh i le f i f t y - t wo
persons were assisted in 1985. You
may wo n d er why the number of
persons assisted has not increased pro
rata the amount of the grants over this
ten year period. The reason is that
there has been a very large increase in
the number of y o un g er applicants in
recent times. A typical beneficiary in
1985 wo u ld have b e en a w i d ow
without dependents, whereas in 1995
a beneficiary is far more likely to be
an applicant with a y o u ng family.
Wh i le the details of the beneficiaries
must remain confidential, s ome
general information may be of interest
| to the profession.
Currently there are sixty-three
beneficiaries in receipt of regular
grants. One third of those are aged
fifty years or younger. Th ey have a
total of sixty dependent children
b e t we en them.
Ob v i o u s ly the As s o c i a t i on is only in a
position to provide beneficiaries with
the bare necessities to live. The vast
majority of applicants wo u ld be in
receipt of Social Assistance from the
State. An y o ne applying for assistance
from the As s o c i a t i on is asked to
itemise his or her expenditure on a
monthly basis and income, if any.
The Directors review this statement
and decide, on the merits of the
case, whether the applicant should
be paid s ome supplemental grant
by the Association. The case is then
kept under regular review. The
! application in the first place must be
sponsored by a Solicitor and one
other person.
It has been the policy of the Directors
! in recent times to provide financial
j
assistance in suitable c a s es by way
of loan repayable by the estate of
! the applicant or out of the proceeds
i of sale of any assets wh i ch he
| or she may have. Applicants are
| asked to c omp l e te documentation in
a c k n ow l e d g eme nt of such a loan.
Not all beneficiaries are long-term. A
number of applicants require
assistance for a short period only. If,
for e x amp l e, a Solicitor with
dependent children b e c ame
u n emp l o y ed he might be assisted by
the As s o c i a t i on until such time as he
found emp l o yme nt and was able to
support himself and his family o n ce
more. It should be stressed that the
As s o c i a t i on d o es not "bail out" those
I
w h o are in debt. A s previously stated
it can only provide subsistence
payments to those in difficulties.
Exceptions, of course, are made by
the Directors wh en warranted.
For e x amp l e, until the recent
abolition of third level fees, the
As s o c i a t i on has on o c c a s i on paid f e es
for a child of a Solicitor wh o obtained
a place in a third level institution and
w h o wo u ld otherwise, due to financial
hardship, have been unable to take up
that place.
Be c a u se there are so many d ema nds
on the funds the As s o c i a t i on is very
grateful for donations from any
source. For the first time in 1995 w e
ventured into the sale of Christmas
Cards, where a portion of the proceeds
went to the Association. Admittedly
this first venture had many teething
problems and was not a great success.
Howe v e r, we hope to rectify matters
in 1996 and details will be given in
future issues of the Gazette.
Thanks to all of you wh o have
supported the As s o c i a t i on in the past.
We look forward to your continued
support in the future. In addition, w e
wo u ld call on those w h o have not
subscribed to the As s o c i a t i on in the
past to consider doing so in the future.
Yo u can be assured that those wh o
benefit from your generosity will be
extremely grateful.
Geraldine
Pearse,
Secretary
•
AIB Law
Chal lenge
A D S BA sailing team took on the Law
Society Yacht Club representing
England and Wa l es at the Royal St.
Ge o r ge Yacht Club, Dun Laoghaire on
Saturday 11 Ma y.
The event was generously sponsored
by A IB Bank and c omp r i s ed a series
of races in t wo S i gma 38s. The yachts
were provided by
Bruce
Lyster,
C ommo d o re of the Royal St Ge o r ge
Yacht Club and
Richard
Hooper,
C ommo d o re of Dub l in Bay Sailing
Club. The f l a g s h ip was provided by
Bill Riordan,
ma n a g i ng partner of
Wh i t n ey Mo o re & Keller and the
o f f i c er of the day w a s
Vincent
Delaney.
(see phote on p. 149).
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