The Gazette 1991

GAZETTE

MAY 1991

Younger Members News

Society of Young Solicitors 1991 Spring Conference - Westport, Co. Mayo.

"Catch the Champagne Express"!

We said and so they did. These

dedicated conference-goers and

first-timers did not wait to reach

Mayo to set the pace for the

weekend. Upon arrival in Westport,

only those who were either young

enough or practised enough lasted

the pace into the small hours at the

disco. Saturday morning dawned

(all too quickly for some) and saw

an excellent turn out for the

morning's lectures - not surprising

given the eminence of the

speakers: the Honourable Mr.

Justice Ronan Keane on the impact

of the Companies Act, 1991 on

Directors and Insider Dealing and

Professor William

Duncan on the

effect of the Judicial Separation

and Family Law Reform Act, 1989,

on litigation, property and success–

ion rights. Both speakers are author

and co -author respectively of

" Company Law in the Republic

of Ireland" and "Marriage Break–

dow n in Ireland, Law and Practice"

- books which practitioners in

those areas of law should not be

w ithout.

The serious side of the con–

ference complete for the day,

delegates now set about the other

task in hand - that of amusing

t hemselves. Guidance in the right

direction was provided at a

w elcoming reception hosted by

Westport Urban District Council at

w hich the virtues of Westport were

extolled w ith great eloquence. They

need not have w orried . It would be

hard to beat the beauty of Croagh

Patrick or Clew Bay on a warm

sunny day. The decision to take the

coach t rip around the bay to

Leenane (location for the film "The

Field") w as definitely the right

one.

Although Westport boasts many

excellent restaurants, the attract–

ions of the established highlight of

the w eekend proved too great. The

forma l banquet and dance held on

this occasion in the Hotel Westport

drew a .capacity attendance. Our

thanks must go to the Hotel and

particularl y to its friendly and co-

operative staff. Nowhere was the

presence of the 35 strong con–

tingent from Northern Ireland felt

more than at the banquet. Once

Colin Sainsbury, Chairman of the

SYS, had given his address, no time

was lost in dispensing with further

formalities. The band was edged

out and the Northern boys took

over. Previously undiscovered talent

found a new platform and the crack

was mighty. The pace never

lessened, continuing with the disco

into the early hours of Sunday

morning .

Fortified with hearty Irish

breakfasts (and, in some cases,

something stronger) delegates

assembled for the last lecture of the

conference - a panel consisting of

Frank O'Donnell, Solicitor, Frank

Lanigan , Solicitor and Alison

Dickenson of Douglas Llambias and

Associates and dealing with dev–

elopments in legal practice, its

management and operation.

Our thanks to all our speakers

not only for their lectures but also

for making the journey and partici–

pating in the events of the week–

end;

to the hardworking

sub-committee responsible for

organising the conference (Jimmy

McCourt and Paul Marren assisted

by Colin Sainsbury); and , last but

not least, to our generous sponsors

- Investment Bank of Ireland (our

main sponsor), Butterworths,

Sweet and Maxwell and Douglas

Llambias and Associates.

The Conference drew to a close

as delegates made their way to

cars, coaches and trains. For

others, Sunday lunch was just

beginning .... . . .

Details of the SYS Autumn

Conference will appear in the next

issue of the

Gazette.

Jennifer Blunden

Public Relations Officer,

SYS.

Society

Young Solicitor.

Conference, We.tport

('efttoRlght): Adrian Burke, Chri. Mahon, Sandra Flah.r, Jam.a McCourt, Deirdre

Salnabury and Colin Salnabury.

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