63 / 324
from motor insurance will also deal with a claim
arising out of the unauthorised use of a State owned
vehicle and Coras lompair fiireann will act similarly
There is no doubt that the establishment of such
a bureau is long overdue and thanks are due to
the Minister and to the insurance companies for
their approach to the matter.
The International Bar Association of which
the Society is a member will hold its next Inter
national Conference in Oslo in July next.
Some
special items have been selected for discussion
generally and in committee. The question of being
officially represented at this Conference will no
doubt be considered by the incoming Council.
The matters for discussion are of great interest and
apart altogether from our attending the conference
officially it may be that some of our members
would consider arranging to spend their holidays
in Oslo about that time and attend at some of the
discussions.
Arising out of the very successful dinner held
as part of our Centenary celebrations in 1952 it
was decided to hold an Annual Dinner and this
dinner was duly held in the years 1953 and 1954.
The question of holding the dinner this year was
considered by the Council and it was felt that the
support in the past couple of years was not sufficient
to warrant the holding of the function in the same
form this year and accordingly, as you are aware,
it has been decided to hold a reception for the
members and their wives or lady friends in this
building to-night. I have no doubt that the presence
of the ladies will make this function not only more
colourful but more enjoyable and I hope that we
will have a very large gathering.
In conclusion I would like to thank the Vice
Presidents and the members of the Council for
their assistance during the year.
The passing of
the Solicitors' Act
increased
tremendously
the
work of the Council and I am well aware of the
abnormal amount of work which the various com
mittees had to do during this year.
To my colleagues of the Dublin Bar Association
I would like to offer a special word of thanks for
the assistance given by them to me and to the
Council during the year.
They brought many
matters to the notice of the Council which affected
materially not only solicitors in their Association
but the profession as a whole.
I would also like
to express my tnanks and appreciation to my coll
eagues of the various bar associations all over the
country for their assistance to the Council during
the year and for their kindness to me on my visits
to them at various functions. The bar associations
guarantee the independence of the profession and
assist materially in maintaining our high ethical
standards and I feel that every solicitor should be
a member of his local bar association as well as
a member of the Society. Lastly I would like to
offer my thanks to the staff of the Society for their
great help during the year and particularly to the
Secretary, Mr. Eric Plunkett. As I have already
said the passing of the Act increased tremendously
the work of the Council and Committees and no
words of mine could illustrate how it increased
the volume of the Secretary's work.
The best
tribute I can pay to him is to tell you that he got
through it all with his usual efficiency.
Mr. T. D. McLoughlin seconding the motion
for the adoption of the report, congratulated the
Council on adopting the new Education Regula
tions. The report was then adopted.
Mr. David Pigot proposed and Mr. John Carrigan
seconded the following resolution :—" That in the
opinion of the Members of this Society there is
great and unnecessary delay in public offices and
departments in dealing with legal and other business
and that such delay operates to the detriment of
the public, especially and the legal profession gen
erally, and this Meeting requests that steps be taken
immediately to rectify matters and eliminate all
such delay in the future " Messrs. C. J. Daly, P.
F. O'Reilly, J. B. McGarry and C. J. Gore Grimes
also spoke to this resolution.
It was stated that
the worst delay occured in the Land Commission,
the Land Registry, the Adjudication Office, the
Probate Office and the Valuation Office. The Pres
ident having put this resolution to the meeting
declared it passed unanimously.
It was decided
that the action to be taken by the Society coming
out of the resolution should be left to the new
Council.
Mr. Desmond Moran proposed and Mr. Joseph
Barrett seconded the following resolution " That
the Council ot the Law Society should support
mandamus proceedings against
the appropriate
authorities arising out of the unauthorised dis
continuance of the Index of Lands provided for
by the Sect. 17 of the Registry of Deeds (Ireland)
Act, 1832."
Messrs. D. R. Pigot, Scan 0 hUadhaigh, C. J.
Hyland, A. Cox, J. J. Sheil, P. R. Boyd, L. Williams
and J. J. Hickey spoke to the motion. On the
suggestion of Mr. P. R. Boyd and Senator Arthur
Cox, Mr. Moran agreed to an adjournment on
the understanding that the Council would inves
tigate whether any useful purpose would be served
by restoring the Index of Lands and that Mr.
Moran might if he wished put down a motion for
the next General Meeting.
It was decided that the next Annual Meeting
of this Society should be held on aznd November,
55