The Gazette 1958-61

upon the number of units paid up during his con– tribution period. He can vary the amount of his contribution from year to year, depending on the amount of his business profits or other circum– stances and he will be credited with a certain number of units on retirement. This flexibility is, of course, of the greatest advantage to solicitors and members of those other professions whose profits fluctuate from year to year and there is no reason why the self-employed professional man should not be entitled to the benefits of a similar scheme in Ireland. I trust that we may shortly see this country falling into line and redressing this serious injustice to the professions. I gather from the recent Budget Speech that the new Finance Bill will, in fact, make some provisions towards this end, but what these may be I cannot yet say as the Council have not yet had the opportunity of examing the Bill. SOLICITORS' BENEVOLENT ASSOCIATION. I should like now to recommend to you the Solicitors' Benevolent Association, of which I am a member. This Association, as you all know, has as its object the relief of those solicitors and their families who are for one reason or another unable to provide for themselves. The Solicitors' Benevolent Association should be close to the heart of every member of this Society. Those members of our profession and their families who through no fault of their own have fallen on evil days and cannot, some of them, afford to buy the necessaries of life are helped by the Association. None of us should ever forget that but for the grace of God, any one of us might be in the same position and yet it is a matter for astonishment to realise that out of almost eighteen hundred practising solici– tors in Ireland only eight hundred and eleven are members. This, I believe, is due to the fact that the members of our profession do not realise either the benefits and assistance given by the Association or the enormous help that the members of our pro– fession could give to the Association by subscribing. The annual subscription is only £1 is., or about jd. a week. If every solicitor in Ireland were to subscribe the Directors of the Association would happily be able to increase the annuities and grants. And I appeal to all members of the profession to join this association now. Before I end this report I should like to express my deep appreciation of the help and assistance given to me by my two Vice-Presidents, Mr. Halpin and Mr. Lanigan. I have never asked them to do anything yet that they did not do cheerfully and willingly, and I am most grateful. I must also thank the members of the Council for the help and the guidance which they have given to me during the

past extremely difficult six months. It is right that you should know that in my opinion this present Council has been the hardest worked and the most willing to do hard work that I have seen during my time of service. Each individual member has at all times put the affairs of the profession a long way before his own. Finally I must thank Eric Plunkett, my secretary; without him to assist and guide me it would have been manifestly impossible for me to carry out my duties. It has been the custom now for many years at these General Meetings to thank him publicly for his work for our profession, but I want to make it clear now that this is no casual praise. Every member of the Council will agree with me when I say that he is the guide and friend of every member of the profession and one of the most stalwart guardians of the profession itself. And lastly, I must not forget to thank the Society's staff who are always so willing and so helpful to me, and the members of the Council in assisting us in the performance of our duties. by Mr. Arthur Cox and seconded by Mr. John J. Nash : " That the Council be authorised to seek legislation giving the Dublin Solicitors' Bar Association the right to nominate three extraordinary members of the Council, and that the charters be amended accordingly with such terms and provisions relating thereto, as the Council may think fit." Messrs. McLoughlin, Gilmore and McGarry spoke to the motion. The motion was put to the meeting and carried without dissent. The Press retired and the house went into private business. When, the representatives of the Press had left the meeting, the President added the following remarks : RELATIONS WITH THE BANKS. You will remember that at the last half-yearly General Meeting of this Society it was debated as to when the Solicitors' Accounts Regulations shall be brought into force and there was considerable opposition to them by some members on the grounds that once the regulations came into force the set-off allowed by time-honoured custom by the banks to solicitors who had large credits in their clients' account and an overdraft in their own account would no longer be permitted. You will all by now have received a circular from the Society setting out what has been achieved by the Council since the last meeting. DUBLIN SOLICITORS' BAR ASSOCIATION. The following motion was proposed