ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING OF THE SOCIETY
THE INCORPORATED LAW SOCIETY OF IRELAND
GAZETTE
JANUARY/FEBRUARY 1978
VOL 72 NO. 1
The President, Mr. Bruce St. John Blake, took the Chair
at 2.30 p.m. on Thursday, 24th November, 1977, in the
Members' Room, in Blackhall Place, Dublin.
The President suggested that the Notice convening the
meeting be taken as read. This was agreed to
unanimously. Mr. John Carrigan proposed, and Mrs.
Moya Quinlan seconded that the minutes of the last
Annual General Meeting held on 25th November, 1976,
as published in the December, 1976, Gazette, pages 205
to 207, be taken as read. This was agreed to
unanimously, and the minutes were duly signed.
Mr. Thomas Costelloe, retired County Registrar of
Wicklow, stated that he had not received a ballot paper.
The Director General stated that, as far as he was aware,
a ballot paper had been issued to all paid up members, but
he would check the matter. The President stated that this
matter was regrettable.
The President moved that the Council's Balance Sheet,
which had been circulated, should be adopted. The
adoption of the Balance Sheet was then duly proposed by
Mr. John Nash, and seconded by Mr. Christopher Hogan
and passed unanimously. Mr. Gerald Hickey proposed
and Mr. P. C. Moore seconded the motion that Messrs.
Coopers & Lybrand be appointed Auditors for the coming
year. This was agreed to unanimously.
Report of the Scrutineers
A meeting of the Scrutineers appointed at the
Ordinary General Meeting of the Society in Wexford in
May, 1977, together with
ex-qfficio
scrutineers, was held
on 17th November, 1977. Nominations for ordinary
membership of the Council were received from 38
candidates, all of which were declared valid. The
scrutineers accordingly directed that their names be
placed on the ballot paper.
The following candidates were duly nominated as
Provincial Delegates in accordance with Bye-Law 29(a)
of the Society, and were returned unopposed:—
Ulster: Peter Murphy (Ballybofey)
Leinster: Christopher Hogan (Kilkenny)
Connaught: Patrick J. McEllin (Claremorris).
In Munster, there was a contest between two candidates
for the post of Provincial Delegate, and the following
candidates received the number of votes placed after their
names:— Patrick Glynn (Limerick) 101; James O'Keeffe
(Skibbereen) 73. Mr. Glynn, was accordingly declared
elected.
A meeting of the scrutineers was held on Thursday, 17th
November, 1977. The poll was conducted from 10.00
a.m. to 8.00 p.m., and a scrutiny was subsequently held.
The result of the ballot was as follows:—
The valid poll was 932. The following candidates
received the number of votes placed after their names and
were elected.
John F. Buckley 629; Bruce St. John Blake 609;
Joseph L. Dundon 606; Mrs. Moya Quinlan 571; William
Anthony Osborne 555; Walter Beatty 554; Anthony E.
Collins 544; Patrick C. Moore 536; John Carrigan 519;
Michael V. O'Mahony 519; Maurice R. Curran 517;
Adrian P. Bourke 517; Donal G. Binchy 514; Thomas
D. Shaw 510; Patrick F. O'DonneU 497; Gerald
Hickey 489; Peter D. M. Prentice 489; Michael P.
Houlihan 478; Francis D. Daly 469; William D. McEvoy
469; Raymond T. Monahan 456; William Brendan Allen
451; David R. Pigot 450; John B. Jermyn 449; Miss S.
Carmel Killeen 434; Thomas J. Fitzpatrick 426; Gerard
M. Doyle 413; Richard J. Branigan 406; Laurence K.
Shields 387; Laurence Cullen 378, and Ernest J.
Margetson 372. The foregoing were returned as ordinary
members of the Council for the year 1977/78.
The following members also received the number of
votes placed after their names:— Eamonn P. King 367;
Andrew Donnelly 359; Francis P. Gleeson 354; James
O'Keeffe 324; Eric Brunker 260; Philip E. McCourt 218;
and Raymond V. Downey 181. The President declared
the result in accordance with the ballot.
Report of the Council
Before discussing the Annual Report of the Council
and of the Committees printed in the October Gazette,
the President gave the address printed on page 173 of the
November Gazette. The President then invited discussion
of the whole Annual Report taken en bloc.
Mr. T. Desmond McLoughlin protested that while the
annual accounts of the Society had reached him in the
normal course, the Gazette had not. Referring to the
Accounts showing the state of the Society's finances up to
April last, Mr. McLoughlin enquired as to the necessity to
seek further contributions to the Compensation Fund
which had risen to almost £500,000 while the demands
on the Fund over the last four year period had averaged
less than £20,000 a year. He suggested that the
contributions be discontinued or, if not, that they be
applied to some other purpose. He also questioned the
expenditure of £4,750 for an Insurance Premium which
appeared for the first time in the Compensation Fund
Account. The President explained that, under the policy,
should a claim arise exceeding £250,000 the Society
would be indemnified to the amount of the excess, subject