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by joining the North Eastern Circuit, he might have died a
patriot son of the west.
We have no problems here in Galway, we may not be
wealthy but we can afford what you might call good middle-
class symbols. We lead a quite relaxed existence and we get on
well together.
Here in the capital of the west, we have a seat of learning
and culture and much to offer to the visitor. We are tourist
conscious because we have an abundance of scenic beauty,
mountain, sea, river and lake. When you leave this meeting
this morning you can walk the very flagstones trod upon by
Columbus five centuries ago when he left St. Nicholas' Church
before setting out for America. You can in the adjoining
market place experience the same atmosphere and there meet
the real Irish and hear the mother tongue in all its fullness of
beauty and clarity of tone, not the language learned from
books, but learned from the mothers' knee on the hearthstone.
In two quick steps from there you can move right into a hive
of activity in twentieth century Galway.
As a county man it pleases me to say of Galway City in the
presence of its mayor that Galway has played a great part
in building up and maintaining the economic fabric of the
State. In fact and in truth I can say that Galway City is now
one of the nerve centres of the industrial life of the Republic
of Ireland.
Mr. President, when you and the Council with your guests
are leaving Galway we willbe happy if we know that you look
back on the city and use those famous words of General
McArthur and say "We'll be back I"
The President, speaking in reply, said
Mr. Mayor, Mr. Glynn and Fellow Members of the Incor–
porated Law Society, it is with very great pleasure that I rise
to reply on behalf of our Members to the words of welcome
which you, Mr. Mayor, have expressed to us on behalf of the
citizens of Galway and you, Mr. Glynn, on behalf of the
Galway Solicitors' Bar Association. This ancient city of yours
so rich in history has much to offer the visitor, while just
outside is a countryside second to none in the beauty of its
scenery. We and our guests hope to make good use of our
time here to enjoy to the full all that you have to offer us.
In reading a little of the history of your city, Mr. Mayor, I
see that you have had some, shall we say, colourful predecessors
who seem to have found a variety of ways of leaving their
mark on the history of this place. I see, for example, that in
the year 1493 James Lynch Fitzstephen, the then Mayor, felt
it his duty to carry out what he believed to be justice and
hanged his own son. I would have thought, Mr. Mayor, that
in addition to showing tourists the window from which this
deed was done, it would be an added attraction to them if you
were to have half hourly demonstrations, with a dummy of
course, showing how the actual deed was performed.
I see also that in 1710 your city received as a gift from its
then Mayor, Edward Eyre, the park which has since been
called Eyre Square after him.
I have no doubt, Mr. Mayor,
that you will go down in the annals of history as the man who
secured the return of your ancient sword and mace and in
addition as the first Mayor to welcome to this city the Members
of the Incorporated Law Society and on their behalf I wish
to thank you most sincerely not only for paying us the honour
of welcoming us in person but for the very kind words that
you have spoken.
To you, Mr. Glynn, to your secretary, Mr. Ford, and to
those members of your Association who have helped so much
to make this week-end possible, we are also deeply grateful.
The idea of holding our half-yearly meeting outside Dublin
was originally made I believe by one of my distinguished
predecessors, Mr. Dermot Shaw, and I can well remember
doubts being then expressed about the wisdom of such a
venture.
It was nevertheless decided to try the experiment
and our first week-end meeting took place two years ago in
Killarney under the Presidency of Mr. John R. Halpin. It was
acknowledged by all to be such an outstanding success that
we were soon looking for a venue for this week-end, realizing
that not alone were other parts of the country equally attractive,
but that in moving around the country we were giving to
our members generally a greater opportunity of taking part
in these gatherings.
Galway was for me in many ways a very happy choice, for
in this county of yours is the old home of my late father and
many generations before him. In this city of yours he received
his early education at what was then the Galway Grammar
School and he grew up with men like the late Henry Anderson,
who did so much for Rugby football in the Province of
Connaught.
I well remember as a boy being taken by my
father to the bridge by the salmon weir and watching in
surprise the salmon lying in rows on the bed of the river like
sardines in a box a sight, alas, no longer visible.
I have
spent in this and the adjoining county some of the happiest
days of my life and so you realize something of the anticipation
with which I have looked forward to this week-end.
We are now living, Mr. Mayor and Gentlemen, in rapidly
changing times, almost daily we read of new discoveries in the
world of science and new advances by man in his quest to
conquer space.
In the world of commerce we stand on the
verge of the European Common Market, which whether we
join it or not will bring further changes to our economy and
way of life. These are days when nations and people are being
brought closer together than ever before and we must move
with the times if we are not only to survive but to play a part,
out of all proportion to our size or position in the world,
which I believe it is our destiny to fulfil.
On an occasion like this it is not unnatural that our thoughts
should turn to our own particular sphere, that of the Law,
with which we are most concerned and in which we now
stand on the verge of great changes which are as necessary as
they are long overdue.
Last year my distinguished predecessor, Mr. John Nash,
called attention to the urgent need for law reform and he
expressed not only the willingness but the desire of our
profession to co-operate and assist in this very urgent business.
Whether it was due to his words or whether it is the fact that
we have at present a Parliamentary Secretary in the Depart–
ment of Justice who combines outstanding ability with
tremendous energy and drive or whether it is a combination
of both we are now in what would seem to be the greatest
period of law reform that this country has yet known.
To my colleagues on the Council and to me it is refreshing
to meet a completely new approach to our profession by the
Department of Justice, there is now an open door through
which we may approach at any time and. on the shortest
notice, to discuss our problems;
there is a willingness to
listen to and enquire into those problems and seek together a
solution as satisfactory to all concerned as it is humanely
possible to find.
Finally and even more important, there is an appreciation
by the Department of the contribution which the Bench, the
Bar and our profession are not only competent but very willing
to make in the solution of our legal problems and the framing
of new laws for old to which I earlier referred.
In taking our part here at home in the work of the
administration of justice and in the formulation of changes so
necessary and desirable in our laws, we must not lose sight of
the world problem and the part that we have to play in its
solution. Here I would like to refer to the work of the Inter–
national Bar Association to which we now belong.
For the first time in 1956 under the leadership ofMr. Dermot
Shaw, our then President, our Society was represented at the
International Bar Conference in Oslo. Since then we have
10.