590 / 736
increased recently by
the savage
increases
in
postal charges, which of course affect our pro
fession particularly. We had already been hard
hit by the increased telephone charges. Communi
cation is the life blood of our business and we
simply must use the post office and the telephone.
A journalist discussing our problems recently
said "Medicine and surgery have streamlined into
techniques which have made heart transplants
possible while the profession of the law clings
tenaciously to its ponderous machinery". This is
not to compare like with like. The technique of
transplants has been paralleled by for instance
the creation and development of company law
but ask any member of the public who has sat
waiting in the outpatients department of a hos
pital or in the local clinic or indeed in many
private doctors waiting rooms or has waited for
a bed in hospital if he thinks the machinery of the
medical profession has been streamlined. Again
the writer says that John Citizen can sell a car
costing £2,000 in five minutes but that the pur
chase of a house or plot of land is complicated
and costly. This is too facile — a car is in the
realm of consumer goods — a house or land is
relatively permanent. Indeed its purchase may
be a once in a lifetime buy and (in any case) the
whole history of land law is involved. In theory
this has been simplified and if the Land Registry
worked as intended, it would result in cheap,
swift transfer of land. At the moment however,
the transfer of registered land is expensive and
slow as a result of increased fees payable to the
State and departmental delays.
We eagerly await the proposals of the Minister
in regard to the jurisdiction of the District and
Circuit Courts. The amount of the increases have
been rumoured for months and 1 hope that the
reason for this delay is that full consideration is
being given to the problem of providing additional
Courts and additional judges and in general to the
practical consequences of substantial increases in
jurisdiction. I have already said that we support
the suggestion that solicitors should be eligible
for appointment to the Circuit Court bench.
I
think that because of their day to day contact
with the public (which barristers do not have).
Solicitors may well have an advantage when called
to sit in judgment on their fellow-men.
The report makes it clear that we are coming
to the end of a year which has seen considerable
expansion in the work of the Society. The statistics
and other details in the report give you some idea
of the amount and variety of the work which
occupies so much of the time of the members of
the Council, but unless one has been a member
one cannot really appreciate the diligence and
selflessness shown for instance by the members
of the Registrar's and Compensation Fund Com
mittees who deal so carefully with complaints and
claims or by members of the Court of Examiners
who
interview
intending apprentices and deal
with the other many problems in relation to exam
inations, lectures and other educational matters.
The heaviest burden of the Committee work falls
on the Dublin members but I have the greatest
admiration for the country members of the Coun
cil who travel long distances and frequently have
to be away from their offices for three days at a
time when they come up to attend the Council
meeting and its attendant committee meetings.
1 want to take this opportunity of expressing to
them all my sincere thanks for the willing help
and co-operation I have received during the year.
In particular for my two Vice-Presidents, Mr.
Brendan McGrath and Mr. T. V. O'Connor. I
am grateful also to my colleagues in various parts
of Ireland who have given me hospitality during
the year at Bar Association dinners and received
me so kindly at other functions and meetings.
I do not know how to express my admiration for
Eric Plunkett and for his staff who serve the
profession so well. I could not have got through
the last year without their constant help, advice
and support.
If there is one message I would like to pass
on to our successors it is that they should continue
to stand fast against all inroads by the State
which would result in the loss of our professional
independence. If the legal profession should ever
become subservient to the State the rights and
liberties of the public would be in jeopardy.
The freedom of
legal profession from State
control or influence is as important as the free
dom of the press.
The motion for the adoption of the report was
put to the meeting and passed unanimously.
8. Thursday,
25th
November,
1971
was
appointed as
the date of the next annual
general meeting.
9. On the motion of Mr. Desmond J. Collins,
the chair. Mr. Collins then proposed a vote
of thanks to the President for his services
to the Society during the past year.
The
motion was carried with acclamation.
The
President returned thanks and the Chairman
declared the meeting closed.
132