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GAZETTE
MAY 1 988
The Solicitors Benevolent
Association
A .G.M. 25 t h Ma r ch 1988
The attendance at the Annual
General Meeting of the Association
included Mr. Thomas A. Shaw,
President of the Law Society, and
Mr. James McFarland, President of
the Law Society of Northern
Ireland. The Chairman of the
Association, Mr. John M. O'Connor,
proposed the motion to adopt the
Report and Accounts for the year
to the 30th November 1987 and
noted the dramatic growth of the
Association's work in the last
decade and the all too evident
need for the confidential service it
provides. In 1977 receipts and
d i s t r i bu t i ons were less t han
£15,000 — last year both figures
exceeded £100 , 000. Present
beneficiaries range in age from an
infant child of a deserted wife to
beneficiaries well over 80 years of
age. And present "hard t imes"
indicate that the facilities and
assistance provided are likely to be
needed more rather than less in
1988.
The Chairman continued:
" The profession has responded
most generously to our appeals and
your Committee of Directors wi th
its most able lieutenant, Clare
Leonard, as Secretary, has carefully
reviewed the cases coming before
us in regular meetings which took
place last year in Dublin, Kilkenny
and Belfast. Your Association of
course covers the entire country
and recently we were glad to
welcome as a new Director, Mr.
Tom Burgess of Belfast — outgoing
President of the Law Society of
Northern Ireland. Among others
who must be referred to in saying
" T h a n k Yo u" are t he Bar
Associations, firms and individual
solicitors, the Society of Young
Solicitors who contribute to our
f unds, and of course Frank
O ' Donne ll and his manager,
Brendan Walsh, whose sponsored
Maracycle, Dublin to Belfast and
back, brought in the remarkable
figure of over £10,000. If any of you
are toying wi th the idea of some
really healthy exercise, there is a
plan afoot to repeat the project this
year. Again our Younger Members
Committee have w i th their Table
Quiz events, run in venues as far
apart as Waterford and Galway,
helped us materially — and not
least by publicising the S.B.A. and
its needs.
I do not propose to add further to
the comments with the Report and
Accounts save for one point —
legacies (down a little last year)
are most welcome and what
better final salute can one give
to one's profession than a legacy
to t he So l i c i t o rs Benevolent
Fund?"
The President of the Law Society,
Mr. Shaw, seconded the Resolution
which was unanimously adopted
by the Meeting and stated he
wished on behalf of the profession
to express appreciation to the
As s o c i a t i on 's Comm i t t ee of
Directors and Officers for the work
they carried out which has the full
support of the Society and the Law
Society of Northern Ireland. He also
stressed the importance of Bar
As soc i a t i ons t h r oughout t he
country who he suggested could
review their efforts to assist the
S.B.A. both in relation to the raising
of funds and the continued liaison
necessary where cases known to
practitioners in particular areas are
referred to the Association.
•
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Internat ional
Bar Associat ion
News
As of March 1988 the total
individual membership of the
International Bar Association has
reached 11,263 of whom 114 are
Irish. The Bar Association of
Liechtenstein has now applied to
join the I.B.A. which means that of
all Western European countries
only Greece and Luxembourg are
not represented on the I.B.A.
Council.
The Association's 22nd Biennial
Conference is due to take place in
Buenos Aires between the 25th
and 30th September 1988 and any
member wishing to attend may
obtain details of group travel
a r r angemen ts f r om Mr. A l an
Benson of Easy Travel, 38 Lr.
Stephen Street, Dublin 2. Tel.
(01) 772057/716714.
The Conference will have a very
full programme including meetings
of each section of the Association
dealing wi th matters of interest to
practitioners whatever their area of
practice or specialisation.
The I.B.A. continues to use its
influence and that of its 108
member organisations in support of
members of the legal profession
who are inhibited in their work or
subject to threat or harrassment by
reason of their support for human
rights and in some cases these
representations have been followed
by the release of lawyers held
without trial.
The Association and its sec-
t i ons
are
also
sponso r i ng
scholarships to assist young
lawyers from developing countries
in studying in the developed world,
and are also assisting young
lawyers to attend the Association's
conference.
If you are interested in obtain-
ing i n f o rma t i on
about
t he
Association you should contact the
Association's Irish Representative,
Joseph Dundon, 101 O'Connell
Street, Limerick, Tel. (061) 48811,
Fax (061) 48392, or the I.B.A.'s
London office at 2 Harewood
Place, Hanover Sq., London WIR
9HB, who would be happy to
provide you wi th any additional
information.
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