156 / 324
The foregoing were declared duly elected.
The result of the ballot for the 31 ordinary
members of the Council and the supplemental list
was as follows :—
Dermot P. Shaw, 512; Arthur Cox, 462 ; Thomas
A. O'Reilly, 459;
Joseph Barrett, 455; Henry
St. J. Blake, 442 ;
John Carrigan, 430 ;
Patrick
R. Boyd, 420; Cornelius J. Daly, 417 ; Desmond
J. Collins, 415 ;
John R. Halpin, 409; Niall S.
Gaffhey, 408 ;
Charles J. Downing, 403 ;
John
J. Nash, 399 ;
Joseph
P. Tyrrell, 393 ;
Patrick
F. O'Reilly, 392; James J. O'Connor, 390; Scan
O'hUadhaigh, 389 ;
Desmond J. Mayne, 379 ;
Francis J. Lanigan, 375 ;
Terence de Vere White,
374; Peter E. O'Connell, 374 ; George G. Overend,
372 ; F. J. Gearty, 365 ; W. J. V. Comerford, 363 ;
Ralph
•].
Walker, 357;
James R. Quirke, 356;
R. McD. Taylor, 352 ; John J. Shell, 351 ; George
A. Nolan, 343;
Francis X. Burke, 327;
Louis
Walsh, 313.
Supplemental Lisf:
John Maher, 284 ;
C. J. Gore-Grimes, 272 ; J. J. O'Dwyer, 256.
The President declared the foregoing members
of the Society duly elected to the Council and the
supplemental list in accordance with the Scrutineers'
report.
The following candidates received the number
of votes placed after their names :—
Gerard M. Doyle, 176;
James A. Kelly, 159.
The President moving the adoption of the report
of the Council said :—
Ladies and Gentlemen :
Since our last meeting,
death has taken its usual toll, and we have with
regret to record the names of those members of our
Society who are no longer with us :
John Lombard
(Gorey) ;
Robert C. Graham (Belfast) ;
Joseph
H. Dixon (Dublin); Brendan C. Russell (Dundalk) ;
Richard O'Brien (Tipperary);
Dermot Murtagh
(Athlone) ;
James G. O'Connor (Dublin); Charles
K. Murphy (Cork) ; John Cusack (Dublin) ; Patrick
J. Masterson (Dublin);
John J. Walsh (Dublin).
These were all members of the Society, our
colleagues and our friends, and to-day on your
behalf I express
to
their relatives our sincere
sympathy. May I ask you, gentlemen, to rise with
me for one moment in a silent tribute to their
memory.
You have had before you the Annual Report of
the Council, which has been circulated, and having
read it, you will have noted that for the Council it
has been a busy year.
There were thirteen full
Council Meetings, ninety Committee Meetings, and
twenty-eight
Meetings
of
the
Disciplinary
Committee. The Report only shows the bare bone
of the activities of the Council and does not reflect
the enormous zeal and industry and to a large degree
the unrequited anonymity which lies behind this
account of the work of the Council and its Com
mittees. To a President it has been an inspiration
to observe and support them.
The work of the Council and in particular its
Committees has increased in recent years and seems
likely to increase yet further.
The time is now
coming when it may be necessary to review the
Constitution and Bye-laws of the Society, and to
consider whether it is necessary or desirable to make
changes in the form of our organisation to secure
the more effective performance of our work.
In the first instance I want to refer to the need
for organisation within the profession. There are
1,363 solicitors holding practising certificates, and
the membership of the Society is 1,130. Allowing
for the number of solicitors employed by the State
and private concerns, the membership is satisfactory
and represents over 80 per cent, of the solicitors
in practice.
But membership of the Society is not enough.
Every solicitor should be a member and an active
member of his local Bar Association.
I have no
doubt that if the occasion should arise, every member
of the Society would act together as one man in
defence of their essential interests; but we want
all solicitors to take a greater interest in the day to
day work.
If the Society is to wield the influence
and power to which it is entitled, it is necessary
that every practising solicitor should be an active
member of his local Association, and through that
Association exercising his full influence and help
in the working of the Society.
At the last meeting I told you that there were only
two counties in Ireland where there were no Bar
Associations.
Since then I have been in touch
with solicitors in these areas. In one case I met the
local solicitors and found a general realisation that
an association would be of benefit. I hope that when
my successor next addresses you, he will be able
to tell you that there is an effective functioning Bar
Association in every county in Ireland.
I have been impressed too by the regional meetings
which have been held this year. All who were
present at these meetings have felt the benefit. May
I suggest that from time to time there should be a
regional meeting of solicitors in each province,
which would be attended by the principal officers of
the Society.
I believe that such meetings would
prove an effective link and would bring home to
those solicitors who have a complete misconception
of the functions of the Council, that it is not a body
apart, but is composed of practising solicitors
elected in each year by the solicitors throughout the
country and working in their interest.
48