The Gazette 1995

GAZETTE

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 1995

N E W S Irish Solicitors Bar Association London Ball

by Cliona O'Tuama, President of the Irish Solicitors Bar Association The Irish Solicitors Bar Association's fifth annual Charity Ball was held on Saturday 22 October at the Natural History Museum in South Kensington, London. In previous years, we had always held the Ball in May or early June but decided this year to change the timing of the Ball to October. The proceeds from the Ball were donated to the Westminster Branch of the NSPCC to assist in the running of the refuge for runaway children which they established in central London almost a year ago in conjunction with Centrepoint. The refuge, provides a safe place for runa- ways under sixteen years old and informs their parents or carers of their safety, but not of their whereabouts. It is an extremely worthwhile cause. The profits of the ball went a small way to making life better for innocent children who have been the victims of neglect or abuse. A champagne reception before the dinner was kindly sponsored by AIB. A superb dinner was followed by one of the highlights of the evening, a charity auction. I had been tipped off that Paul Kelly, Solicitor, who had come all the way from Leixlip to support the Ball, would be a superb auctioneer and I had been lucky enough to persuade him to be our celebrity auctioneer. Paul performed superbly in his new-found role and persuaded everyone to dig deeply into their pockets and his efforts raised a total of £1,250 in the auction. The star item in the auction was a dinner for six to be cooked for the successful bidder and delivered to his/ her home by a leading catering company. The dinner was much sought after and the bidding was keen and swift and it was eventually bought by Belfast-born barrister Conor Quigley, who has a thriving European law practice in London and who also lectures in EU law at Oxford. Conor was so keen to increase the profits for the NSPCC that, when all other bidders had fallen silent,

ErnestMargetson (Past President, The Law Society) and Cliona O'Tuama at the Irish Solicitors Bar Association London Ball.

Unfortunately, William Fry, another leading Irish firm with an office in London, were unable to take a table at this year's Ball, as their resident London partner A islinn O'Farrell was out of the country. William Fry have always been generous supporters of the Association and gave a very generous donation in support of the Ball and the NSPCC to compensate for the fact that they were not able to take a table this year. Although we were sorry that they could not be with us this year, William Fry were certainly with us in spirit, thanks to their generous donation! Another major Irish firm who took a corporate table was Eugene F Collins, whose table was hosted by Eugene Murphy and Simon McCormick. (I hope that Simon wasn't too inundated by suitors after I referred to him as Dublin's most eligible bachelor! I am still receiv- ing requests for introductions from un- attached women lawyers and bankers!) Other major corporate contributors included Aer Lingus, Anglo Irish Bankcorp, Bank of Ireland, Bord Failte, Irish Permanent and Virgin Atlantic CityJet. Thanks are due to all of them and to the many major London law firms and members of the English Bar who supported the Ball again. (Continued on page 28

he asked fellow-barrister Mark Brealey to bid against him and Conor eventually paid £550 for the dinner. Once again I was overwhelmed by the generosity of several major Irish law firms and commercial institutions, who supported the Ball by hosting corporate tables, taking advertisements in our souvenir programme, making financial donations or donating items for the raffle. As before, leading Irish firm McCann FitzGerald, who was the first Irish firm to have opened an office in London, was one of our major sponsors. McCann FitzGerald partner Roddy Bourke (ably assisted by his wife Ann Daly ) hosted a corporate table on behalf of the firm and his colleague Niall Powderley had also invited several London lawyers as guests of the firm. I was pleased when Niall won first price in the raffle, two return tickets to New York, which had been kindly donated by Aer Lingus. It was fitting that McCann FitzGerald's generosity was rewarded. I was delighted that Ernest Margetson, a former President of the Irish Law Society and senior partner of another major Irish firm, Matheson Ormsby Prentice, supported the Ball once again. Ernest hosted a corporate table on behalf of MOP with Stanley Watson the firm's resident London partner.

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