The Gazette 1967/71

23, Thomas V. O'Connor, 419; 24, George A.

Nolan, 407; 25, James R. G. Green, 406; 26, James

W. O'Donovan, 397; 27, Thomas Jackson, Jnr.,

395; 28, Norman T. Spendlove, 381; 29, Desmond

Moran, 375; 30, Gerald Y. Goldberg, 369; 31,

William M. Cahir, 368.

The scrutineers returned the foregoing as duly

elected members of

the Council for the year

1968/1969.

The

following

candidates

also

received a number of votes placed after their

names:—32, Patrick McEntee, 351; 33, William

B. Alien, 345; 34, Maurice R. Curran, 311; 35,

William A. Young, 308.

The Chairman declared the result of the ballot

in accordance with the scrutineers report.

On the proposal of P. G. Moore, seconded by

Kevin Burke the audited accounts and balance

sheets for the year ended 30th April 1967 circula

ted with the agenda were adopted. The President

signed the accounts.

On the proposal of P. C. Moore, seconded by

Kevin Burke, Messrs. Kevans & Sons were re-

appointed auditors.

The President addressed the meeting as follows :

Before I propose to you the adoption of the report

may we call to your memories the doleful fact that since

we last met many of our colleagues have left us for

ever. They include:—Peter Canning, John W. Gentle

man, James D. Kiernan, George Lynch, John N. R.

McNamara, Trevor G. B. McVeagh, William J. Norman,

Nicholas J. O'Donnell, Michael N. Phelan, James A.

Power, Ernest W. Proud, Archibald Robinson, Edward

D. Ryan, Hector J. G. Ryan, Sean Cormac Rynne, J.

Malvern White, Gerald Quinn.

May God rest their souls. I know you will want to

join with me in conveying to their families and relatives

our deepest sympathy.

It is my duty to propose to you the adoption of the

annual report. Before I put the report to you for your

consideration there are some comments I wish to make

by way of addition as well as explanation and elabora

tion.

The outstanding event of the year, was of course,

the 12th Biennial Meeting of

the International Bar

Association. May I say straight away that this was an

unqualified success. It was the biggest conference ever

held by the association. Indeed the numbers attending—

over

1500—exceeded by about

25%

the

estimated

attendance thereby placing an extraordinary increased

strain on

the committees' arrangements both for the

business sessions and the social activities, transport and

hotel accommodation. But notwithstanding the difficul

ties of

the

increased

load

the whole

thing went off

completely without hitch. Both during and since the

conference I have been in close touch with the heads

of the various divisions and many others and I have

never heard of a single complaint or criticism of the

manner of the organisation of the conference or of its

ancillary facilities. On the contrary both during the con

ference and since I have received a flood of messages

both verbal and written praising the Society on

the

excellence of the arrangements for and the conduct of

the conference which far exceeded what might be ex

pected from

the demands of courtesy. It

in fact

generally conceded by persons having experience that

this was the biggest and best conference to date. This

something of which

the Society can be

justifiably

proud. We did credit to ourselves as a profession and

to our country. This success was not fortuitous. It was

the result of long and thorough preparation by a com

mittee of men and women, who, results prove to have

been singularly competent and suited to their tasks. As

you will see from the report the Committee was chaired

by Mr. John Carrigan who devoted at least half of his

working year to the work of the conference. Under him

each member of the committee had assigned to him the

exclusive responsibility for some specific aspect of the

conference. The

ladies

sub-committee was

similarly

organised

under

the

chairmanship

of Mrs.

Shirley

Carrigan and the whole was served by a superb execu

tive provided by Mr. Plunkett and his staff. All of these

worked without complaint or regard to the unreasonable

demands which were made on their time and energies.

I think you would want me to extend on your behalf

an expression of our gratitude to all these people and

our congratulations on their success. I must also express

our gratitude to the President, to the Taoiseach and

his Government and in particular to the Minister for

Justice for the encouragement and active co-operation

which they gave us throughout and which contributed

in such a large measure to the success of the whole.

Amongst others

there are

two

important matters

which

the success of

this conference brings

to our

notice. Firstly the whole thing was ran exclusively by

lawyers and their students; its success therefore and the

efficiency of its conduct indicates the high degree of

organisation, ability and efficiency which marks

the

education for and conduct of the practice ot law and

with which it is seldom credited. Secondly this conference

was of very considerable national advantage. Some years

ago a similar conference took place in England and after

the conference the Law Society conducted investigations

through the mediums of

the various bar associations

involved. This produced the surprising information that

each conferee spent

in addition

to his hotel bill an

average of £20 per day. Taking this as a guide and

allowing for the alteration in the value of money in the

meantime our conference brought not less than £500,000

of money

into

the country. That would not have

happened if Irish Lawyers and in particular representa

tives of the Law Society had not for many years past

been assiduous in attending similar conferences in other

countries and got themselves involved in the activities

of the International Bar Association. As can be deduced

from the figures quoted above

the attending at such

conferences is a very expensive business. Most of the

conferees who came to Dublin were allowed their expenses

as a deduction for

income

tax purposes. The same

facility is not granted here and it is not reasonable for

the Government

to expect foreign conferees

to come

here unless we are in our own small way to return the

compliment.

trust

that

this

a matter

that

the

Minister for finance will take into account at an early

opportunity. The money

that would be

lost

the

revenue would be

trifling and

the reward would be

very substantial.

King's Hospital

For some time past it has become increasingly clear

that the Society's present headquarters do not provide

sufficient space for the expanding activities and functions