The Gazette 1975

Why we need a Common Market Library

and Conference Centre

The foremost obstacle has been the shortage of man-

power and of resources. National experience indicates

the need to provide adequate research and back-up

facilities on a comprehensive basis for those who repre-

sent Irish interests within the European Communities.

There is an urgent need for a central library devoted

to the specialist areas of study of the Common Market.

If this library is not soon provided, various interested

parties (such as the legal professions, the public service,

Parliamentarians and members of the Economic and

Social Committee) will be obliged to establish their own

inadequate information and research facilities. This

latter course is a real possibility, as is shown by the

failure of the Irish interests in Brussels to establish a

common headquarters with appropriate facilities.

We need a library which meets the following speci-

fications :

(1) It is a repository of official Community documents.

(2) It contains a selection of books, journals and

papers on Community and allied topics.

(3) It possesses an effective staff of researchers and

translators.

It is important, in my view, that this library be pro-

vided by the Government, in order to expedite estab-

lishment and in order to conserve the slender resources

of the various bodies. The library should have a central

city location, with a close proximity to Iveagh House,

Leinster House, and the proposed Institute for Inter-

national Relations. Newman House, in St. Stephen's

Green, would be an ideal centre for the library.

Dublin must be one of the few Community capitals

which does not possess an official conference centre,

with facilities for both Committee and Parliamentary

meetings. There is an urgent need for such a conference

centre. In 1975 Ireland will chair all E.E.C. Committees;

presumably some sessions of these Committees will be

held in Dublin. The Council of Ireland will, in time,

hold some of its meetings in Dublin.

An official conference centre requires,

inter alia,

the

following :

(1) A number of committee rooms, with facilities for

interpreters.

(2) A chamber for meetings of a parliamentary

nature.

(3) Catering facilities and administrative offices.

Again, the location of this conference centre is impor-

tant. It should be in the city centre area with easy

access to the Oireachtas, Government d epartments,

hotels, universities and diplomatic missions.

Two possible locations spring to mi nd: (1) the

College of Science in Merrion Street, (2) the old Parlia-

ment House in College Green.

(1) The College of Science has immediate proximity

to Leinster House and to Government buildings. How-

ever, this very proximity might be undesirable for poli-

tical and security reasons : it could be inappropriate for

a body (such as the Council of Ministers) which exer-

cises authority over the national Parliament to sit in

the same building.

(2) The Bank of Ireland has removed its adminis-

trative headquarters to Baggot Street; it could relocate

its banking business elsewhere in College Green and

Dame Street, without too much difficulty. For historical

reasons, the oldest Parliament House in Europe would

be a fitting location for an official conference centre—

it is my ambition to see the Council of Ireland sitting

in the old House of Lords.

Action is urgently needed to establish both a Euro-

pean Community library and an official conference

centre. With the use of flair and imagination (and with

a little help from the Minister for Finance) institutions

which are responsive to our needs and which add to

our national dignity could be established.

Buying and Selling a House

The Irish Auctioneers and Valuers Institute have

commented to the Society that wording in the

Society's leaflet suggests that Solicitors hold them-

selves out as valuers. The Institute points out that

the art of valuing is a specialised field with many

variations that can only be dealt with adequately by

experienced wholetime valuers.

The Committee which issued the leaflet agrees with

the Institute. The leaflet was intended to suggest that

a Solicitor ordinarily, among other matter, could give

preliminary expressions of value of property but was

not intended to suggested that valuing is in the

province of a Solicitor.

Most solicitors try to avoid expressions of value

and the Committee would not like to feel that the

leaflet would encourage Solicitors further into

this

sphere of action.