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GAZETTE
January-February 1976
ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
THE President, Mr. William A. Osborne, took the
Chair at 2.30 p.m. on Thursday, 27th November, 1975,
in the Library of Solicitors' Buildings, Four Courts.
The notice convening the meeting, and the minutes
of the Ordinary General Meeting held in Westport in
May, 1975, were taken as read, and were subsequently
signed.
The President then requested that the accounts
and balance sheets for 1974-75 be adopted. This
motion was formally proposed by Mr. Peter D. M.
Prentice, seconded by Mr. John Nash, and was passed
unanimously. Mr. Gerald Hickey then proposed, and
Mr. Robert McD. Taylor seconded, the motion that
Messrs. Coopers & Lybrand be appointed Auditors
for the coming year.
Report of the Scrutineers relating to Ballot for the
Council 1975/76
A meeting of the scrutineers appointed at the
Ordinary General Meeting of the Society held in May,
1974, together with the ex-officio scrutineers was
held on 20th November, 1975. Nominations for
ordinary membership of the Council were received
from 38 candidates all of which were declared valid
and the scrutineers directed that their names be
placed on the ballot paper.
The following candidates were duly nominated as
provincial delegates in accordance with bye-law 29
(a) of the Society and were returned unopposed:
Ulster—Peter Murphy,
Munster—Dermot G. O'Donovan,
Leinster—Christopher Hogan,
Connaught—Patrick J. McEllin.
A meeting of the scrutineers was held on Thursday,
20th November, 1975. The poll was conducted from
10.00 a.m. until 4.00 p.m. and the scrutiny was sub-
sequently held The result of the ballot was as follows:
The valid poll was 709. The following candidates
received the number of votes placed after their names,
and were elected:
William A. Osborne 652, John F. Buckley 631, Mrs.
Moya Quinlan 631, John Carrigan 598, Walter Beatty
595, Joseph L. Dundon 591, Patrick C. Moore 588,
Thomas D. Shaw 585, Bruce St.J. Blake 570, Patrick
Noonan 546, Anthony E. Collins 526, Maurice R.
Curran 520, John Maher 513, Patrick F. O'Donnell 511,
John B. Jermyn 505, William D. McEvoy 503, Robert
McD. Taylor 500, Peter D. M. Prentice 493, Francis J.
Lanigan 491, Laurence Cullen 480, John J. Nash 476,
James W. O'Donovan 471, Donal G. Binchy 465,
Michael P. Houlihan 464, David R. Pigot 464, Bren-
dan A. McGrath 461, Gerald Hickey 460, William B.
Allen 436, Adrian P. Bourke 432, Ernest J. Margetson
429, Miss Carmel Killeen 421.
The foregoing candidates were returned as ordinary
members of the Council for the year 1975/76. The
following members also received the number of votes
placed after their names: Gerard M. Doyle 413,
Raymond T. Monaghan 404, Brian J. O'Connor 377,
Eamonn P. King 362, Philip E. McCourt 333. Patrick
J. Bergin 262, and Patrick J. O'Donovan 188. The
President declared the result in accordance with the
ballot.
Report of the Council
The President stated that, as last year, the Annual
Report had been printed in the Gazette, and each
Report had been prepared by the Chairman of the
Committee concerned.
The President proposed the adoption of the
President's
and
Council's
Reports, which were on the
same lines as last year. He wished to thank members
of the Council, and particularly ordinary members
who had been assigned to the Committees for the
magnificent work they had undertaken during the
year. The general motion "That the Report of the
Council for 1975-76 be adopted" was moved by the
President, seconded by Mr. P. Prentice and passed
unanimously.
The Report of each Committee was then taken
separately. The adoption of the Report of the
Registrar's Committee
was proposed by Mr. Frank
O'Donnell, who thanked all the members for their
exceptional hard work due to adverse publicity. Mr.
Quentin Crivon mentioned the fact that in many cases
Solicitors' Accountant Certificates were in arrears in
1974 and 1975. If these were in order in 1973, surely
it could be presumed that they were also in order in
1974 and in 1975, until the contrary was proved. The
President said that meetings of the Committee had
been held regularly, but the position was unsatis-
factory. From January, 1976, the Regulations would
have to be strictly enforced, and an up-to-date
Accountant's Certificate would have to be presented
before the licences would issue. In reply to Mr. Crivon,
the President stated that an Indemnity Policy would
not be required. In England, due to high premiums,
the compulsory insurance scheme had not been a
success. Mr. Crivon felt that the situation should be
examined, as there appeared to be no difficulty in
obtaining the statutory proofs. Mr. Anthony O
hUadhaigh said he remembered that the attempt to
include compulsory insurance when the Solicitors' Act
1954 was passed had been resisted by then then
Government. Mr. Brendan O'Maoileoin was very con-
cerned about press chicanery in its recent attacks upon
the profession. He felt that the Profession should only
entertain complaints by individuals, and seek redress
against the Press through the Courts. The President
said that they had ignored this unjustified publicity,
and that the profession was generally now held in
higher esteem. Mr. Patrick Noonan said that the
President had acted in a masterly way in replying to
criticism on Television. The Report was then adopted.
The adoption of the
Compensation Fund Com-
mittee
's report was then proposed by Mr. Frank
O'Donnell, and adopted unanimously.
The adoption of the Report of the
Privileges
Committee
was proposed by Mr. Michael Houlihan,
who expressed the hope that the policies of members
would be expanded. It was adopted unanimously.
The adoption of the Report of the
Parliamentary
Committee
was proposed by Mr. Peter Prentice, who
thanked the members for their great assistance. This
had been a year of great parliamentary activity par-
ticularly in regard to tax law. This Report was
passed.
The adoption of the Report of the
Finance Com-
mittee was
proposed by Mr. Gerald Hickey, who paid
a special tribute to Mr. Healy for looking after the
investments of the Society so carefully. Mr. Crivon,
in referring to Blackhall Place, stated that an under-
taking had been given to the members that its upkeep
would not cost them one penny. The Report now
mentioned a subscription of £20. The members were
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