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In my half-yearly Report to the Council in May
I referred to the delays in the Valuation Office.
I regret to say that so far as my personal experience
goes, there has been little or no improvement in
this particular regard.
I don't believe there will
be any improvement until the Government adopts the
suggestion I made in my half-yearly Report in May,
namely that these valuers should be situated locally
in local offices instead of being sent down through
out the country from Dublin. These delays in my
opinion are unnecessary and unwarranted, and a
bad example to the rest of the country.
It seems
to be absolutely ridiculous that it should take a
valuer six months or more to value a property
which he could inspect in an hour and report on in
another hour, if he were on the spot in a local
office.
In consequence of the very successful Dinner-
Dance held in November of last year, it has been
decided to renew the function this year, and accord
ingly the Dinner-Dance is being held to-night at the
Shelbourne Hotel, where I trust you will all be and
where I hope you will thoroughly enjoy yourselves.
Before I conclude this address, I must mention
what a pride and privilege it has been, for me to be
your President during the past year.
It has been
a year of great social activities so far as I was con
cerned, and while it meant a good deal of travelling
around, and at first I viewed the prospect with
considerable misgivings, I must now confess when
I have come to the end of my term of office that
I enjoyed every minute of it.
There are three special occasions which I will
always remember and cherish. There was our visit to
Northern Ireland in May of this year, where Mrs.
Gaffney and I spent three days as the Guests of the
Incorporated Law Society of Northern Ireland.
Then there was my visit to London where I was
entertained by the President and Council of the
English Law Society at their Annual Dinner, and
lastly, and by no means least, there was our own
reception in conjunction with the Benchers and
the Bar to the members of the American Bar Associa
tion in the Round Hall of the Four Courts, and the
subsequent reception at the Castle, given by An
Taoiseach.
My term of office has been made easy by the fact
that I had two Vice-Presidents in the persons of
Mr. Desmond Collins and Mr. Charles Downing,
who were always ready and willing to help me out
on every possible occasion.
I had a most loyal
and considerate Council, who have been more than
generous and accommodating to me in every way.
I have had the support and help of not alone my
own colleagues
in Limerick City
and County
but indeed throughout the whole of this
land
North and South. During all this time, and during
all my stresses, strains and tribulations, both at
home and abroad, I had the help and enthusiastic
assistance of our most able and efficient Secretary,
Eric Plunkett, together with his most competent and
willing staff.
I now move that the report of this Council for
the year 1956-57 be adopted.
The motion for the adoption of the report was
seconded by Mr. Desmond J. Mayne.
The Secretary, at the request of the President,
read a report from the special committee of this
Council on the Solicitors' Remuneration General
Order, 1957.
The President asked the Press representatives to
retire and the discussion on the report was taken
in private. Mr. J. B. McGarry on behalf of the
Dublin Solicitors' Bar Association,
asked
for
information as to the present position of the Solici
tors Accounts' Regulations and why they had not
been brought into operation.
In the discussion
which followed, the following members participated.
Messrs. J. R. Halpin, Scan O'hUadhaigh, Arthur
Cox, Desmond Moran, Desmond Counahan, Charles
Hyland, Denis Greene, Leslie Kearon, C. J. Gore
Grimes, Donough O'Donovan, F. X. Burke,
J. P. Tyrrell, S. V. Crawford, D. P. Shaw, William
Dillon Leetch, John Sheil, John Carrigan, John
Nash, James Hickey, George Nolan, M. J. Lardner.
The President stated that the views expressed
and all other relevant views and information would
be carefully considered by
the Council.
The
motion for the adoption of the report was put to
the meeting and carried without dissent.
The following motion on the agenda was then
proposed by Mr. G. G. Overend, seconded by Mr.
John Carrigan :
(a)
That bye-law 35 be amended by the sub
stitution of the word " one " for " three "
therein.
(£) That the following new bye-law be sub
stituted for the existing bye-law 37 :—
37. When the poll has closed the scrutiny
shall be proceeded with and at the November
general meeting in each year the scrutineers
of the ballot shall return the names of the
thirty-one candidates for election as ordinary
members having the greatest number of votes
and shall also return the name of the candidate
for election as provincial delegate for each
province having the greatest number of votes,
and the Chairman of the meeting shall there
upon declare the thirty-one candidates first
returned duly elected as the ordinary members