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GAZETTE
JULY-AUGUST
197
THE OFFICIAL OPENING
OF BLACKHALL PLACE
MR. JOSEPH DUNDON,
on tha occasion of tha Official Opanlng of Tha
Incorporated Law Society's New Premises at
Blackball Place, Dublin on Wednesday 14th
June 1978
I have great pleasure, on behalf of the Society, in
welcoming all of you to the official opening of the new
home of the Incorporated Law Society of Ireland.
This day marks the completion of what must surely be
one of the greatest undertakings in the 126 years of the
history of the Society. These beautiful premises will
provide the members of the Society with an administrative
headquarters, a law school, and a meeting place for all
occasions and purposes. In particular, they will provide
facilities for a law school run on the most modern lines,
which we are quite confident will meet fully the demands
of the Irish people for the services which this profession
will continue to provide on an increasing scale during the
last decades of this century and on into the nex t . ..
Our critics, for their own reasons, choose to ignore the
fact that this is a young, vigorous and growing profession,
which has increased steadily in numbers from 1300 in
1964 to over 2000 today, and on our projections (which
we have published, and which remain uncontradicted) to
over 3000 by 1986.
I should not however be taken as suggesting that,
having achieved our immediate goal of providing the
physical surroundings in which to provide for the future
education of the profession and its administration, that we
should rest on our laurels. There is much work to be
done. The Public, quite properly, make new and greater
demands of us. Our changing society poses new
problems; A wide spectrum of legal problems associated
with changing attitudes to the family and marriage; a
more sophisticated demand for specialized services
arising from a more prosperous agriculture and a larger
industrial sector; a whole new dimension of E.E.C.
law—complex problems of labour law arising from new
legislation, and the intractable problems of job creation
for our predominantly young population. We are ready
and willing to play our part in tackling all these problems,
and this Society will give all the assistance in its power to
its members in providing them with continuing education
both in law and in modern business methods . . .
The investment made by our profession in the
provision of these new premises is our vote of confidence
in the future of the profession and of our Country.
We believe that the economy of the country benefits
greatly from an efficient system of administration of the
Courts and of the offices associated with land registration
and taxation, and I appeal to the Government to
recognize this by devoting the necessary resources to the
provision of premises, staff and equipment for these
purposes. This beautiful building now made new is a
metaphor for what I feel should be our view of our legal
system, and our profession. The basic fabric has stood for
200 years, and still fulfills the purpose for which it was
first conceived by Thomas Ivory. The interior has been
modified and improved so as to preserve all that is good,
and remove all that has outlived its usefullness or
decayed. This is surely the quintessence of conservation
where what is old and beautiful can still remain modern
and functional.
Before inviting An Taoiseach to speak to you I would
like, on behalf of the Society, to pay tribute to those who
have played a special part in this project.
Paddy Noonan, who was President in 1968, and his
Council deserve special praise for their courage. One
man must be singled out for special mention as the one
who had the foresight to identify these premises, I refer of
course to Peter Prentice. Having taken the initial step of
acquiring the premises for £110,000, our courage failed
us for the time being when we considered the cost of
refurbishing. During this pause, we succeeded in clearing
the initial debt, and accumulated a further £200,000
towards the work. Since the work recommenced, our
members have contributed, or pledged close to £400,000,
and I am confident that before long our target figure of
£600,000 wffi be achieved.
We are grateful to our Bankers, the Bank of Ireland,
who have provided us with the necessary bridging finance
to proceed with the project.
So far as the building work is concerned, we are deeply
grateful to our Architect, Terry Nolan and to his
associate, Leonard Morgan, and to his team of
consultants, Messrs. J. V. Tierney & Co. and Thomas
D'Arcy & Co. We were fortunate in securing the services
of our main contractors, Messrs. G. & T. Crampton, and
their various sub-contractors, and also of our Clerk of
Works, Mr. Reburn. They can all take pride, as we do, in
their achievement in the preservation and renovation of
this building, not only for our benefit, but for the benefit
of the people of this City and our Country.
I would also like to thank particularly Mr. Desmond
Clarke, of the Royal Dublin Sociaty, who advised us on
Library Design, and Aidan Prior and Brian Coyle, who
helped us to choose the furnishings; Lee Kidney, who
advised us on catering arrangements, and Cert., who also
assisted us in the design of our kitchens.
In conclusion, I would like to pay particular tribute to
all the members of the Premises Committee of the
Council, which planned and supervised to completion the
project, and most especially to my Junior Vice President,
Moya Quinlan, who as Chairman of that Committee
devoted more time and effort to the detail of the project
than any other individual member of the Council.
Mr. Dundon then called on An Taoiseach, Mr. Jack
Lynch who addressed the audience and perfromed the
official opening ceremony.
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