The Gazette 1995

GAZETTE

! that the Society was not in touch with

the members of the profession. He felt

that efforts would be more effective if

the structure of the Society was

changed.

Gerry Brady

also expressed

concern about the finances of the

Society. He said that the Society was

not member friendly and he also

expressed concern about the numbers

entering the profession.

Oran Ryan,

' asked the question: "Has the Law

Society become too cumbersome and

is its management structure suitable to

serve its members?" He criticised the

number of committees and the number

of staff employed. He felt that the

| Society should be reorganised in light

o f

the new Solicitors (Amendment)

Act, 1994.

Peter OBoyle

referred to

the Bye-laws of the Society and felt

that amendments to the Bye-laws were

Í needed consequent on the passing of

the new Act.

I The discussion was then opened to the

floor.

Gerry Hickey

stated that the

Í motions were very general and

unspecific and that specific proposals

; for change should be produced first to

| enable a constructive debate to take

I place.

Laurence Shields,

Chairman of

the Finance Committee, denied that the

finances of the Society were "out of

control" and referred to the detailed

| debate on the Annual Accounts for

I 1993 which had taken place at the Half

Ye^r Meeting in Galway in May 1994.

| Barry Galvin

said that none of the

proposers had addressed the issue of

what needed to be done and how to do

it. He did not disagree with the

desirability of a review and the need

for change but he did disagree with the

proposition that it was necessary to

have an independent lay person outside

our own profession to chair the review

group. He proposed that the motions

be amended to delete the reference to

an "independent lay Chairperson" but

that to create a time limit for the

review and recommendations for

change should be put before the Half

Yearly Meeting in April/May 1995.

Mr. Galvin's amendment proposal

was seconded.

Michael Nugent

said that while the

consensus of the meeting was clearly

in favour of a review of the structures

of the Society, what was now at issue

was whether or not the review group

should be chaired by someone outside

I the profession.

Anne Colley

spoke in

| favour of an independent lay

Chairperson being appointed.

Ken

I Murphy

said that outside consultants

Í were not the answer and that an

examination of the structures could not

ignore the views of the ordinary

members of the Council who were

democratically elected by the

profession each year. He suggested that

! a review group be set up which would

j be representative of the profession as a

! whole as well as the Council and which

could present a written report with

recommendations for change to the

next general meeting of the Society.

The President, from the Chair, said it

was impractical to propose that a new

| Director General to replace

Noel Ryan

not be appointed until the review

group had completed its work. He said

that the Council had to appoint a new

chief executive as soon as possible to

manage the Society's administrative

structure. He sought a consensus that

the terms of appointment of the

i Director General should not preempt

i the scope of the review or of any

j decisions to change the structures of

! the Society which might be made by a

subsequent general meeting or by the

! Council. He was concerned that as

! clearly there was a consensus for a

structures review that the wording of

the motions, in particular the provision j

relating to the chairperson should not

I be divisive at this stage. He said the

reality was that any recommendations

for change made by the review group

would have to be debated at a

subsequent general meeting, when

members would have the opportunity

to express their approval or

disapproval of the recommendations.

After a two hour discussion the

following resolutions were passed by a |

large majority on a show of hands:

| 1. "That the Law Society do

immediately set up an enquiry to:

(a) Examine the structure of the

Council of the Law Society with

the objective of better serving

the solicitors' profession in

modern Ireland;

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 1995

(b) Examine the administration,

finances and accounts of the

Law Society with the objective

of better serving the solicitors'

profession in modern Ireland;

and that the enquiry report back to

the half-yearly general meeting to

be held in Dublin."

2. "That, as a matter of urgency, the

Bye-laws of the Society be

amended, after examination, to suit

the structure and administration of

the Society in modern Ireland."

The Annual Accounts were approved

and the date of the next Annual General

Meeting was fixed for 23 November,

1995. The prize bond winners were

announced.

(See next page).

The follow-

ing results of the Council elections

1994/95 were declared at the AGM.

Mr. Patrick A. Glynn

was deemed to

have been elected.

No. Elected

No. of Votes

1. Barry St. John Galvin

1,294

2. Michael V. O'Mahony

1,271

3. John Shaw

1,255

4. Anthony H. Ensor

1,224

5. MoyaQuinlan

1,201

6. Donald P. Binchy

1,157

7. Eva Mary Tobin

1,133

8. Patrick O'Connor

1,125

9. Michael G. Irvine

1,099

10. Geraldine M. Clarke

1,088

11. Ward McEllin

1,084

12. Ken Murphy

1,051

13. Niall Gerard Casey

1,025

14. Andrew F. Smyth

1,015

15. James MacGuill

1,012

16. Owen M. Binchy

1,001

17. Elma Lynch

1,000

18. Laurence K. Shields

999

19. John Costello

993

20. Michael Carroll

992

21. Patrick Casey

982

22. Francis D. Daly

978

23. Fionnuala Breen-Walsh

974

24. Terence McCrann

936

25. Philip Joyce

926

26. Gerard F. Griffin

923

27. Stephanie M. Coggans

910

28. John G. Fish

908

29. Keenan Johnson

906

30. Brian J. Sheridan

852