The Gazette 1949-1952

The Secretary read the report o f the scrutineers o f the ballot of the Council for the year to end on the date o f the Ordinary General Meeting in November, 1950, which stated that for the office of provincial delegate the following had been returned unopposed : Ulster, Derrick M. Martin ; Munster, John J. Dundon; Leinster, Reginald J . Nolan, and that for the office of provincial delegate of Connaught two candidates had been nominated, namely, Christopher E. Callan, and Alfred V. G. Thornton, and that the result o f the ballot was as follows : Christopher E . Callan, 27 votes ; Alfred V. G. Thornton, 31 votes ; and that, accordingly, Alfred Thornton was elected provincial delegate for Connaught, and Christopher E. Callan supplemental provincial delegate for the same Province. The scrutineers further reported that the following had been elected as the 31 ordinary members o f the Council, having received the number o f votes placed after their respective names: Henry St. J. Blake, 466; Arthur Cox, 464; Daniel O’Connell, 458; L. E. O’Dea, 4 52 ; P. R. Boyd, 436 ; Joseph Barrett, 434 ; W. L. Duggan, 431 ; Joseph Tyrrell, 430 ; Dermot Shaw, 429; P. F. O’Reilly, 423 ; W. J. Norman, 420; J . T. Wolfe, 408; T. A . O’Reilly, 404; Sean 6 hUadhaigh, 398 ; W. S. Hayes, 485 ; J. J. Bolger, 382; W. S. Huggard, 382; John Carrigan, 377 ; Desmond Counahan, 374 ; Niall Gaffney, 369; G . A . Overend, 368; James J. O’Connor; 358 ; Roger Greene, 353 ; Gerald O’Donnell, 348 ; J. D. O’Connell, 343 ; J . R. Quirke, 337 ; J. S. O’Connor, 334 ; John J. Nash, 3 14 ; J. R. Halpin, 309 ; F. J. Gearty, 299 ; Desmond J. Mayne, 268 ; with the following as the supplemental list in case of vacancies : Peter Woods, 261 ; Cuthbert J. Furlong, 256 ; P. J. Murphy, 213. The President, in moving the adoption o f the Annual Report, said : welcome you all here to-day. The Council’s Report has been in your hands for some time, and it is thus only necessary to stress some of the high­ lights of the year’ s work. The Report gives an ample record of the activities o f the Council during the last twelve months, and shows how various matters before the Council were dealt with. It must be remembered that there are seven or eight Sub- Committees before which the. innumerable matters for the consideration of the Council come in the first place for discussion. You will appreciate, then, that the members o f the Council have been busy during the past year, the number o f meetings alone of the Council and the Committees being 83. Since our last meeting we have to mourn the deaths of the following members o f the Society : G entlemen , I

Francis J. Magan, Alured F. Rolleston, Henry C. Roper, David J. Farrell, Francis J . Clohosey, Henry Sheil, Andrew D. Cornyn, Terence Byrne, Christopher McGonagle, Nicholas A . Byrne, Dr. Thomas G. Quirke, James J. McCabe, Augustine S. McBreen, John T. Hamerton, William S. Haughey, John E. Hamerton, John A . Cullen, Walter Beatty. We deeply regret their deaths, and offer their relatives our sincere sympathy. It is fitting that I should mention specially the name o f Dr. Quirke, by whose death the Society, and the profession, has suffered a grievous loss. Dr. Quirke was admitted in 1891, after a most distinguished academic record, including the degree of Doctor o f Laws. His name was known for many years by older members o f the profession, who owed much o f their success at the Society’s examina­ tions to his skilled tuition. He served as a member of the Council for almost 30 years, and was President o f the Society in the year 1925-26. When the offices were in Kildare Street, after our premises had been destroyed in the fire o f 1922, he worked with out late Secretary in rehabilitating the Society’ s records. He retired from the Council owing to advancing age in the year 1942, but continued to lead an active professional life until his death at the ripe age o f 84. During his long period on the Council, he never spared himself in advancing the interests o f the profession, and it is fitting that I, as President, should pay a tribute to his memory. As you will see from the Report, the membership o f the Society is pretty high, but there are still some who have not joined, and I would urge that in these days, when results can only be achieved by co-operation and unity, that those who are not members should join the Society immediately. The subscription is only £ 1, and for that a member gets all the benefits o f the Society, including the Library service and the G azette . Out o f 1,350 practising solicitors, 1,107 are members o f the Society—equivalent to 82 per cent. What we want is too per cent. I regret to say that the important matters men­ tioned in my speech at the last half-yearly meeting— namely, Law Reform, the increased stamp duties, and textbooks—still remain in the same position, and that there is no progress to report on these matters. You may be sure, however, that they will have the constant attention of the Council, and as opportunity arises, steps will be taken to improve the position. Since our last meeting, a Sub-Committee o f the Council waited' on officials o f the Ministry of Justice, when the Parliamentary draftsmen’s draft o f the Solicitors Bill was fully considered. 34