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ANNUAL MEETING
The Annual General Meeting of the Society was held
in the Library, Solicitor's Buildings, Four Courts, Dublin
0:1
Thursday, 24th November 1971.
(1) The President took the chair at 2.30 o'clock.
(2) The notice convening the meeting was by per-
mission taken as read.
(3) The minutes of the Ordinary General Meeting
held on 8th May 1971 were by permission of the meet-
ing taken as read and were signed by the Chairman.
Result of Ballot
(4) The Secretary read the report of the scrutineers
of the ballot for the Council for the year 1971-'72 as
published hereunder. The President declared the result
of the ballot in accordance witht he scrutineers report,
as follows :
The following candidates were duly nominated as
provincial delegates in accordance with bye-law 29 (a)
of the Society and were returned unopposed :
Ulster
John C. O'Carroll
Munster
Thomas E. O'Donnell
Leinster
Christopher Hogan
Connaught
Patrick J. McEllin
A meeting of the scrutineers was held on Thursday,
18th November 1971 at 11 o'clock. The poll was con-
ducted from 11 a.m. until 1 p.m. and the scrutiny was
subsequently held. The result of the ballot was as
follows :
695 envelopes conta'ning ballot papers were received.
Valid poll was 691.
The following candidates received the number of
votes placed after their names :
1, John Carrigan (514); 2, Eunan McCarron (504);
3, Brendan A. McGrath (495); 4, Patrick Noonan
(492); 5, Anthony E. Collins (466); 6, Patrick C.
Moore (463); 7, Francis J. Lanigan (460); 8, Mova
Quinlan (458); 9, Bruce St. J. Blake (456); 10, Robert
McD. Taylor (454); 11, William A. Osborne (452);
12, Gerald Hickey (448); 13, Senator J. J. Nash (445);
14, James W. O'Donovan (445); 15, Joseph L.
Dundon (440); 16, Walter Beatty (435); 17, Thomas
J. Fitzpatrick (433); 18, John Maher (430); 19, James
R. C. Green (421); 20, Peter D. M. Prentice (416); 21,
Peter E. O'Connell (413); 22, Ralph J. Walker (411);
23, George A. Nolan (402); 24, Laurence Cullen (397);
25, William B. Allen (390); 26, Michael P. Houlihan
(390); 27, Patrick McEntee (380); 28, John B.
Jermyn (379); 29, Thomas V. O'Connor (376); 30,
Gerard M. Doyle (370); 31, Patrick F. O'Donnell (370).
The foregoing candidates were returned elected as
ordinary members of the Council for 1971-1972. The
following candidates also received the number of votes
placed after their names :
32, Desmond Moran (366); 33, David R. Pigot
(365); 34, Thomas Jackson Jnr. (363); 35, Norman
T. J. Spendlove (282); 36, Robert W. R. Johnston
(259); 37, Brian K. Overend (247).
The President declared the result of the ballot in
accordance with the scrutineer's report.
(5) On the motion of Mr. John Carrigan, seconded
by Mr. Christopher Hogan the audited accounts and
balance sheet for the year ended 30th April 1971 cir-
culated with the agenda were adopted. The President
signed the accounts.
(6) On the motion of Mr. James R. Green, seconded
by Mr. Gerald Hickey Messrs. Cooper Brothers & Co.
were appointed auditors to the Society.
(7) The Pres
:
dent proposed the adopting of the
Report of the Council for the year 1970-'71. The motion
was seconded by Mr. Gerald Doyle. The President, in
reviewing the work of the Council for the past year
then said :
President's Statement
Ladies and Gentlemen I would like to preface my
remarks in proposing the adoption of the Report of the
Council by welcoming our Secretary Mr. Eric A.
Plunkett on his return to duty after an absence of some
months due to illness. We are extremely glad to see
him there again. In welcoming Mr. Plunkett I would
also like to pay tribute to the extremely competent
and devoted manner in which the Assistant Secretaries,
Mr. Finnegan and Mr. Healy, carried on during his
absence and the way in which they dealt with the
additional work which fell upon them. I know from my
own experience that they worked long hours in order
to keep the work of the Society up to date.
Law and the Individual
Reading the newspapers and looking at television in
reccnt months and there witnessing the evidence of a
host of collective pathologies from whxh the whole
world appears to be presently suffering, and listening
also to the calls for law and order both at home and
abroad, I wondered if this Annual General Meeting
might not be an occasion upon which I should, as
President of your Society, make some observations on
the role of Law and Lawyers in contemporary society.
The practice of law is, after all, the art of the
relevant, and we claim as a habit of mind and as the
tools of our trade, objectivity and disciplined thought.
Nevertheless, I hesitated because I realised that this
would he an ambitious undertaking, and perhaps, be-
yond the range of my own personal competence. How-
ever, on Sunday last, after Mass, I met a priest, and in
the course of conversation he made a comment to the
effect that the legal profession has a significant part
to play in helping to solve the ills that presently beset
society.
Emboldened by this and supported by two quotations
which I now offer I decided to undertake the task.
Speaking of the role that law can play in the resolution
of tensions domestic and international Paul Freund, an
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