154 / 244
J. Nash, William J. Norman, Daniel O’Connell,
James J, O ’Connor, Gerald J. O’Donnell, Patrick
F. O’Reilly, Thomas A. O’Reilly, Sean O hUadhaigh,
George A. Overend, Maurice M. Power, James
R. Quirke, John J. Sheil, Joseph P. Tyrrell, Reginald
J . Nolan, Timothy A . Buckley, James B. McGarry,
Richard Ryan, James G. Lyons, Robert W. R.
Johnston, James J. Hickey, Joseph P. O ’Connell,
Sean A. O hUadhaigh.
The notice convening: the meeting was, by
permission o f the meeting, taken as read. The
minutes o f the Ordinary General Meeting held
on 23rd November, 1950, were read, confirmed
and signed by the Chairman.
The Chairman announced that he nominated
the following members o f the Society to act as
scrutineers o f the ballot for the election o f the
Council to be held on 22nd November, 1951 :—
John R. McC. Blakeney, Desmond J. Collins,
Thomas Jackson, Brendan P. McCormack, Roderick
J. Tierney.
The Chairman, addressing the meeting, said :—
‘ ‘ Ladies and Gentlemen, it is with the greatest
possible regret that the President offers you his
apologies for not being present at this half-yearly
General Meeting of the Society.
This would
have been his first opportunity o f addressing the
Society as a whole since his election and as you
may well imagine he has not abandoned lightly
his opportunity o f doing so. As he has explained
to members o f your Council the President has
been invited as principal guest to the annual dinner
of the Eire Society o f Boston on May 19th and
he has accepted the invitation.
The President
feels greatly honoured by the invitation o f the Eire
Society o f Boston which he regards as a tribute
to our Society. As one of the Vice-Presidents
I have been asked to read this address to you on
behalf of the President and I hope that you will
accept his apologies for not being with you.
Since our last half-yearly meeting the Great
Reaper has carried out his customary duties and
this year some very eminent members have fallen
to the stroke o f his scythe. The following members
o f the Society have disappeared from our midst.
Mr. Charles J. Laverty, o f Castleblayney, died on
March 12th. He was admitted in Trinity Sittings,
1894, served on the Council from 1924 to 1939
and was President in 1934-35.
The following solicitors have also died since
our last ordinary meeting:—Francis J. Allen,
A . Newton Anderson, J. Sydney Bright, Francis
Clinch, Charles J. Crowley, Joseph Dodd, Vincent
P. Duffy, Robert T. Falkiner, James G. E. Fitzgerald,
John Forde, Sir Joseph Glynn, A. Moreland Harper,
Gerald J. Hegarty, John Kelly, John J. Macken,
Thomas S. McAllister, Daniel McCartan, W. j .
McCourt, William S. McCullough, Thomas McKinty.
William Patterson, Albert E. Prentice, Gerald F.
Robinson, William J. G. Seeds, Robert B. Wolfe.
We offer our sincere sympathy to their families.
Once again I appeal to those members o f our
profession who have not joined our Society to
do so without further delay and I ask the existing
members o f our Society to canvass their colleagues
and apprentices with a view to getting them to
join.
I also appeal to every solicitor throughout the
country to join a local Bar Association and to do
everything possible within his power to make his
Bar Association a vigorous and live body. Recent
events have underlined the necessity for professional
bodies to organise. As I see it for some time to
come professional organisations are liable to come
under fire from many quarters. A closely knit
and well organised Law Society, supported by
active Bar Associations, will be able to resist such
attacks if and when they come. The time-worn
cliche, “ united we stand, divided we fall,” carries
greater significance to-day than it has done for
many a day past.
This Society will do everything within its power
to assist Bar Associations and in return the Society
expects Bar Associations to co-operate with the
Society when they are called upon. I would ask
you to attach the greatest possible importance
to the necessity to organise your Associations and
to act accordingly.
L
aw
R
eform
:
I understand the Attorney General has set up
a section in his office for the investigation and
overhaul o f our present laws with the object of
reforming them and bringing them up-to-date.
This is long overdue. I congratulate the Attorney
General on this practical step but it occurs to me
that he is making a mistake in dealing with such
an important matter within the narrow confines
o f his own office. Theory is never a substitute
for practical experience and it seems to me a .pity
that the Government when considering Law Reform
generally do not set up a number o f parallel com
mittees with different Chairmen to examine and
make proposals for legislation on the lines o f the
Company Law Reform Committee which has
recently been set up. It seems to me that there will
be very littie professional or public interest in the
machinery o f Law Reform which operates behind
closed doors in Upper Merrion Street.
C
ompany
L
aw
R
eform
C
ommittee
:
As you know, the Council at the invitation of
the Attorney General appointed Messrs. Overend
4