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GAZETTE
MARCH/APRIL
1980
employer is invariably represented before that tribunal.
The employee sometimes is not, and if he is not a member
of a trade union it is likely that he will not be represented.
The Department contends that procedures are so
simplified that it is not necessary to provide civil legal aid
for representation. A person is over-awed if he has never
appeared before a tribunal: people in the weaker section
of the community have a problem. A person is
disadvantaged who has never appeared before a tribunal
before, and is opposed by someone who appears
regularly. We ask the Department to have a second look
at our representations because the weaker elements of the
community should be catered for in this important area."
The President concluded by remarking that one of the
best ways of trying to be fair, good and efficient as a
lawyer is to keep up-to-date. Qualified solicitors should
continue their education through seminars run by the
Society, and by the Society of Young Solicitors. Law can
change very swiftly, and unless solicitors keep up-to-date
they will have enormous problems. The Society provides
a wide range of services for its members; the Solicitors'
Benevolent Association assists, in a very real way, the
widows and children of solicitors who have met
misfortune, the Society of Young Solicitors is ongoing in
the educational services which it provides for all its
members. If newly-qualified solicitors have not joined
these bodies already, then it is one of the first things they
must do and also become members of their local Bar
Association.
Valuations...
Osborne King and Megran
o * -
A professional
service for the
legal profession
Osborne King and Megran
ESTATE AGENTS AUCTIONEERS A N D VALUERS
V2
Molt",worth Street Dublin 2
Telephone Dublin ( O ' i / 6 0 2 61 Tele» 4622
( )tt.. i • iiiv.u' (. ,rk f»(jlw(jy Brl'usl und iorirton
Seminar Comment
The seminar "Freedom and the Media" held in Black-
hall Place, 9 February 1980, attracted over 120 media
personnel, many of them from the provinces and some
from the North.
The response was strong, particularly during the
sessions dealing with news reporting, and an excellent
rapport was established between members of the
profession present and the Press/TV/Radio personnel.
Immediate coverage by the media included news
reports on both TV and Radio in addition to reports in
evening and daily national newspapers, and subsequently
in the RTE-2
Printout
some days later.
Mr. Jacob Ecclestone, the President of the London-
based National Union of Journalists, was among the
speakers and — at the close of the proceedings - speaking
from the floor warmly thanked the Society for organising
the seminar and expressed the wish that some similar
project could be run in Britain.
A number of the participants took the trouble to
express personally to Society personnel their apprecia-
tion of the sessions, adding that they felt them to be of
direct benefit.
"Freedom and the Media" was a project of the Public
Relations Committee with the President, Mr. Walter
Beatty; Senior Vice-President, Mrs. Moya Quinlan, and
Chairman of the PR Committee Mr. Frank O'Donnell
presiding at the sessions. Mr. Michael V. O'Mahoney and
Mr. John F. Buckley discussed libel and contempt of
court in lively session which brought many questions
from the floor.
[See photographs right! •
Good Response to series
of Conveyancing Courses
The professions response to the first series of
Conveyancing courses and the new continuing Legal
Education Programme has been heartening. By the time
the first of the five courses in the advertised series took
place, booking for all five courses was so heavy that a
further complete series was arranged for the April-May
period. Indeed one of the courses, that on Investigation of
Title, has proved so popular that it is planned to present it
on a third occasion. Over 350 applications for courses in
these series have been received.
Future series of courses in Probate and in Administra-
tion of Estates are planned for the Autumn (and it is
hoped some of these can be arranged for venues outside
the Dublin area). A series of courses in Applied Com-
pany Law is also being considered.
The continuing Legal Education Programme is
administered by the Society's Training Specialist and
Course Organiser, Patrick Quinn, who will be very
pleased to hear from members with suggestions for future
courses.
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