66 / 338
The result of the ballot for the 51 ordinary mem
bers of the Council was as follows :
John Carrigan, 482; Dermot P. Shaw, 475 ;
Arthur Cox, 460 ; Thomas A. O'Reilly, 432 ; Niall
S. Gaffney, 423 ; John R. Halpin, 422 ; Cornelius J.
Daly, 422 ;
Joseph P. Tyrrell, 421 ; Desmond J.
Collins, 419 ; John J. Nash, 417 ; Patrick R. Boyd,
409 ; Robert McD. Taylor, 402 ; Charles J. Down
ing, 397 ; James J. O'Connor, 392 ; Francis J. Lani-
gan, 391 ; William }. Comerford, 385 ; Eunan Mc-
Carron, 383 ; Patrick O'Donnell, 380; George A.
Nolan, 376 ; Patrick Noonan, 373 ;
Peter O'Con-
nell, 371 ; Ralph J. Walker, 364 ; George G. Over-
end, 357; John J. Sheil, 349; Terence de Vere
White, 342; William Dillon Leetch, 334; Scan
O'hUaclhaigh, 334 ; John Maher, 331 ; Desmond J.
Mayne, 329 ; James R. Quirke, 308 ; John Kelly, 300.
The President declared the foregoing members of
- the Society duly elected to the Council in accordance
with the scrutineers' report.
The following candidates received the number of
votes placed after their names :
Brendan A. McGrath, 241 ; Benedict J. Daly, 228 ;
Charles Hyland, 209; Francis A. Gibney, 174;
Elizabeth M. Wright, 121.
The President moving the adoption of the report
of the Council said,
Ladies and Gentlemen :
Since our last Meeting it is with great regret that
I have to tell you that the following members of this
Society have died :
James H. Murphy, Dundalk ; Alexander E. Don-
nelly, Omagh ; Raymond Hickey, Dublin ; John J.
A. O'Hare, Dublin ; Robert Heuston, Tipperary ;
Roger O'Sullivan, Limerick; James C. Taylor, Bel
fast (Extraordinary Member of Council from 1931 to
date of his death) ; Richard J. McDonnell, Dublin ;
Hutchinson E. Davidson, Ballinasloe ;
Joseph .Mc-
Cartney, Dun Laoghaire ; William S. Barrett, Dub
lin ; David O'Flaherty, Dublin; Patrick Listen.
Rathkeale ; T. Norman Lynam, Dublin ; Robert N,
Keller, Dublin ; Thomas Early, Dublin ;
John P.
Dillon, Dunclalk;
Jarleth A. O'Connell, Tuam ;
James Neville, Bandon ; Peter C. Furlong, Dublin'
Mr. James C. Taylor of Belfast was one of the
extraordinary members of the Council of this Society
appointed by the Council of the Incorporated Law
Society of Northern Ireland. He had been an extra
ordinary member since 1931 and although his duties
in Belfast precluded him from attending regularly at
our meetings he was always a welcome visitor and a
friend of every member of the Council. We deeply
regret his loss.
On behalf of the members of the Council and
myself I desire to express my deep sympathy to their
relations and friends.
Solicitors Act
At the half-yearly general meeting last May I then
explained to you the position in which we stood as a
result of the decision of the Supreme Court to the
effect that the powers exercised by the Disciplinary
Committee under the Solicitors Act, 1954 were un
constitutional, and I then told you that the Council
of the Society had applied to the Government for
amending legislation and it was hoped that this
would have been on the statute book by July last.
I regret to have to say that our hopes have not, as
yet, been fulfilled.
The Council submitted a detailed memorandum of
the matter to the Department of Justice which was
carefully considered by the Minister and his Officials.
The Secretary, Mr. Plunkett, and I have had at least
five interviews with the Department, as a result of
which a Bill was introduced in the Dail last July.
That Bill
still
awaits
consideration,
and
the
Opposition have tabled a number of amendments
to it. This is a most difficult and complex matter
which needs the greatest care and thought.
We have received very great assistance and con
sideration from the Minister for Justice and the Sec
retary of the Department, Mr. Coyne, and I am satis:
fied that they are doing, and will do, what they can
to press the matter through to a conclusion. It is
imperative that this should happen as soon as pos
sible, because we are, without amending legislation,
in exactly the same position as we were last May.
The Report of the Disciplinary Committee is pub
lished on page 43 of the annual report which is now
in your hands and you will there see what the Com
mittee has done during the past year. They have done
and have been able to do nothing. The Disciplinary
Committee still has no powers of any kind and the
,
Society is still helpless so far as action against any
defaulting solicitor is concerned. Legislation to re
pair the void caused by the Supreme Courts decision
is vitally necessary but as it is clear that this decision
effects not only the solicitors' profession but also
every other profession as well, the preparation of a
new Act is a very difficult business.
The Council are, however, satisfied that the prin
cipal object should be to have a Disciplinary Com
mittee exercising generally the functions of the old
Statutory Committee established under the Act of ,
1898. That Committee, under the 1898 Act, was em
powered to find facts and to report to the Chief
Justice on these facts and whether such facts consti
tuted misconduct or not. It is the opinion of the