The Gazette 1995

GAZETTE

N E W S

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 1995

Noel Ryan, Director General of the Law

Society of Ireland (1990-1994) - a Tribute

It is with a rrtixture of regret and

appreciation that I present this tribute to

Noel's years as Director General - regret

that he is no longer with the Society and

appreciation for what he has done during

his four years of service. The Society's

loss is undoubtedly the Irish Horseracing

| Authority's gain as Noel takes up his

I position as Chief Executive of that

newly-established statutory body. Only

time will tell whether administering the

organisation responsible for the future

development of the horseracing industry

will be as onerous ás administering the

organisation responsible for the

solicitors' profession. What can be said

now is that the recognition of Noel's

qualifications for the job by two very

different, but very important

organisations is the ultimate compliment

to this man of many talents.

In paying tribute to Noel's years of

service with the Society it is difficult to

; know where to begin. In metaphorical

j terms, so maijy mountains have been

I climbed during his years as Tensing (or

was it Hillary?) that a listing of them

would be very long indeed. Suffice it to

highlight the man and then to refer the

reader to the Society's Annual Reports

for each of his four years in office.

Noel became Director General in

October 1990, after more than thirty

years in the public service. That his

public service career was a successful

one is an understatement. For the five

j years preceding his coming to the

Society, Noel served as an Assistant

Secretary of the Department of Justice

and with the Secretariat at Maryfield,

Belfast, established under the Anglo-

Irish Agreement of November 1985. It

will ultimately be for historians to

' evaluate the long-term significance of

i those initial years of the Anglo-Irish

| Secretariat. However, what is clear at

this remove is that what

Michael Lillis

and

Noel Ryan

and their successors

have achieved in that initially isolated

and, at times, dangerous posting forms

a vital support pillar for the present

healthy state of Anglo-Irish relations

today. The making of contacts on a

Pictured at the Dinner in honour of outgoing President, Michael V. O'Mahony and Director

General, Noel C. Ryan were Michael V. O'Mahony (1993/94); Raymond Monahan (1992/93);

Ernest Margetson (1989/90); Noel C. Ryan, (Director General 1990/94); Patrick A. Glynn,

President of the Law Society; Donal G. Binchy (1990/91) and Adrian P. Bourke (1991/92).

day-to-day basis with all the strands

making up the government of Northern

Ireland, as well as both sides of the so-

called "divide", is what has built the

trust which is facilitating the resolution

of disputes which might otherwise

prove intractable.

It was with this auspicious background

that Noel came to the Society. He was

chosen as

Jim Ivers'

successor during

the presidency of

Ernest Margetson

and

he worked for the full Presidential

terms of

Donal Binchy, Adrian Bourke,

Raymond Monahan

and /. Don, Adrian

and Ray have each acknowledged the

extraordinary energy, support and

encouragement received from Noel

during our respective terms of office.

The following remarks of Adrian in his

Presidential Report of November 1992

aptly reflect the experience of all four

of us:

"Since he came to the Society, he has

been a remarkable energy force,

giving unstintingly of his ideas, his

contacts and his time on behalf of the

Society. As was intended, he is a

leader from the front. He argues his

point. He always accepts the outcome

of a discussion, in whatever forum,

and no matter how tough the going!

My belief is that the Society is lucky

to have Noel as Director General and

this is clearly borne out by his record

to date."

In my personal view, if one word can

encapsulate Noel's leadership qualities

it is "conciseness", that is conciseness of

thought, which is not necessarily the

same as brevity. Whether addressing an

issue, orally, at Council; committee or

bar association or, in writing, in a report,

letter or minute, the issue was always

presented concisely, with all the 'pros'

and with all the 'cons'. Though Noel

might have had a strongly expressed

personal viewpoint on an issue, once the

issue was debated fully and a decision

made, even if not in accord with his own

initial view, he could present the

grounds for the decision with the same

lucidity and conviction as if he had

concurred with it from the outset.

That extraordinary facility was clearly

the product of his years as a public

servant, years that saw him move, ever

upwards, from the Department of

Defence to Finance to Public Service,

to Justice and finally to Maryfield. In

the midst of that public service career

he found time to obtain a first class

honours BCL degree (UCD, 1978) and

to become a barrister-at-law (1979).