parchment

parchment
THE DUBLIN SOLICITORS MAGAZINE | www.dsba.ie | SUMMER 2009 | Issue 40
Gerald
Kean
Cross-examined
DSBA employment
survey
Election lawyers in
the spotlight
Landmark Criminal
Courts to open

Save
the
Date
Package Price:
Cost per person sharing
€895!
Flights extra
16th to the 20th September 2009
Package includes 4 nights in the 5 star Ritz Carlton Hotel, Chicago,
Business Session and Conference Dinner .
Contact Maura at Dublin Solicitors Bar Association, 90 Harcourt Street, Dublin 2, Ireland.
Tel: 01 4763824 • E-Mail: info@dsba.ie for futher information.
www.dsba.ie

contents
DSBA Parchment Magazine Summer 2009
Editor’s Note ............................................3
Letters to the Editor...............................4
President’s Message ...............................5
DSBA Survey .............................................6
The YDS Survey provides an insight into
the problems facing young Solicitors.
Election Lawyers......................................8
DSBA President Kevin O’Higgins pays
tribute to those hardy legal souls
amongst us who took the brave step to
stand in the recent elections.
Landmark Criminal Courts
set to open.............................................10
An overview of the new iconic courts
building
Cross Examination ................................12
Stuart Gilhooly meets Gerald Kean over lunch
Landlords Take Note .............................18
Rachel Rogers examines the tightening of
regulations relating to rental properties.
Mediation and ADR ...............................20
John O’Connor examines recent
developments
When there is not enough to go
around – Probate ..................................22
Anne Stephenson advises what to do
when there may not be sufficient assets
to meet all bequests.
Drunk Driving Law Update...................24
Grainne Whelan examines the drunk driving
laws and provides an insight into how the
Courts are interpreting the legislation.
The Immigration Bill .............................26
Hilkka Becker discusses the Immigration,
Residence and Protection Bill 2008
YDS news from the Young
Dublin Solicitors ....................................28
Book Reviews.........................................32
Murdoch’s Dictionary of Irish Law
Civil Procedure in the Circuit Court
Criminal Prosecutions under the Planning
and Development Acts
In Practice...............................................34
News and update from the legal world of
practice.
Photocall ................................................39
Legal faces from recent events and
gatherings.
Stuart Gilhooly provides
the closing argument ..........................48
page 10
page 26
page 8
Tom Brabazon
page 40
Dublin Solicitors Bar Association
90 Harcourt Street, Dublin 2, Ireland
Tel: 01 4763824 | E-Mail: info@dsba.ie | www.dsba.ie
parchment | Summer 2009 1

The DSBA and YDS are
delighted to announce the...
ANNUAL
PARTY
SUMMER
VENUE:
DATE:
TIME:
The Rose Garden, Blackhall Place
Thursday 30th July
6.30pm till late
COME CELEBRATE WITH COLLEAGUES
TO MARK THE SUMMER
AND THE END OF TERM
Wine and finger food - Tickets €20 each.
Tickets available from any Council Member or from DSBA Office, 90 Harcourt Street, Dublin 2.
Tel: 01 4763824. Email: info@dsba.ie or on the door at Blackhall Place on the evening.

editorial
Editor John Geary
Parchment Committee
Stuart Gilhooly
Keith Walsh
Justin McKenna
Kevin O’Higgins
Published by the Dublin
Solicitor’s Bar Association,
90 Harcourt Street, Dublin 2.
Copyright – The Dublin
Solicitor’s Bar Association
DSBA Office,
Tel: 4763824/4763846
Fax: 4189772
Email: maura@dsba.ie
DX 212011
Website: www.dsba.ie
Neither the DSBA, the Contributors
or publisher accept any responsibility
for loss or damage suffered as a
result of the material contained in
the Parchment.
As this edition of the
Parchment lands on your
desk, I hope you are looking
forward to the summer
break and the prospect of a good
holiday. The past few months hasn’t
seen much of an upturn at all and
the ‘green shoots’ seem to be some
way off, for the time being.
Aside from the serious unemployment
problem, the majority of
you are concerned about the costs
of professional indemnity insurance.
Word on the street is that
premiums in the autumn could be
anything up to three times the current
rate. This will be crippling for
the profession.
The profession should try to
support the Solicitor’s Mutual Defence
Fund as best as possible. The
‘not for profit’ SMDF has been at
the heart of our profession since
its inception and it is now in trouble.
Lynn and Byrne claims have
wrecked havoc and have shaken
the fund to its foundations. Other
insurers will not be interested in
the one man and small practices, as
they are the highest risk. Without
insurance, our profession is in
jeopardy. The next few months will
tell a tale.
Since taking over as editor of the
Parchment, I am genuinely amazed
at the number of colleagues who
are willing to provide articles and
items for the Parchment. To them,
can I extend my thanks and appreciation,
as without their contributions
this publication would not
find its way to you. This magazine is
entirely voluntary and the Parchment
is just one of the many benefits
of membership of the DSBA. If
you are not a member of the DSBA,
I would encourage you to formally
join. At €95 per year, it is the best
value ticket in town.
Have a great summer.
John Geary
Editor
jvgeary@gmail.com
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advertisement in Parchment does not
necessarily signify official approval by
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made to ensure the correctness of
advertisements, readers are advised
that the Association cannot be held
responsible for the accuracy of
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DSBA Council
Kevin O'Higgins –
President
John Glynn – Website
and Technology
Co-ordinator. Nominee
to the Council of the
Law Society
John O'Malley – Vice
President and Nominee
to the Council of the
Law Society
Paddy Kelly – Consult a
Colleague Co-ordinator
and Chairman of the
Practice Management
Committee
Helene Coffey –
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Keith Walsh – Vice
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Nominee to the Council
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Stuart Gilhooly –
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Design Erica Löfman
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Printer Graham & Heaslip
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Julie Doyle –
Chairperson of the
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John Geary – Editor of
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Chairman of the
Litigiation, PIAB and
Employment Law
Committee
Grainne Whelan – Joint
Chairperson of the
Young Members
Committee (YDS)
parchment | Summer 2009 3

letters
Dear Sir
Letters to the Editor
Following the DSBA Litigation Committee's discussion regarding the
Court's application of the Probation Act, the DSBA President Kevin
O'Higgins wrote to the Garda Commissioner Fachtna Murphy about the
matter. Here is a reprint of the letter. A response is still awaited.
Fachtna Murphy
Garda Commissioner
Office of the Chief Administrative Officer
Garda Headquarters
Phoenix Park
Dublin 8
Re: Probation Act 1908
Dear Commissioner Murphy,
10th March 2009
I write to you with some concern regarding the 1908 Probation Act. It has
come to my attention through some colleagues who have encountered difficulties
with this piece of legislation.
You will be well aware of how individuals coming before the Courts often
get what is called “the benefit of the Probation Act”. One of our Council
members has had three separate cases where individuals received the Probation
Act and it subsequently transpired that this was “noted” on their record
when a future employer conducted a search at the vetting office of the Gardaí.
It is my understanding that even if a person receives the Probation Act by a
Judge, the date they were in court is listed, together with the offence. It is assumed
by most people that when they receive the “Probation Act” that it does
not show up on their record but evidently this is not the case.
It is my view that the Act could jeopardise a person’s work or travel
prospects unfairly. I am sure that this is not in keeping with the spirit of the
Act which celebrated its centenary last year.
I would most welcome your views on the matter and if necessary I can raise
the matter with the Minister for Justice in due course.
Yours sincerely,
Kevin O’Higgins
President
Dublin Solicitors Bar Association
It has come to writer’s attention that certain
Dublin hospitals have been charging
anything between 60 cent and €1 per
page for “photocopying, including post
and package” when sent a standard request
for copy medical records from solicitors
with the usual signed authority of
the client accompanying same.
Where photocopies of record are released
under the Freedom of Information
Act, the Act allows for the
photocopying costs to be charged to the
requester. The standard rate per page is
4 cent. The schedule of charges is set out
in the CPU Notice number 11 which is
on www.foi.gov.ie.
I would respectfully suggest that
where copy medical records are sought,
formal application be made under the
Freedom of Information Act and that
reference is made to the “standard rate
per page” and “schedule of charges” as
cited above.
Yours, etc..
Manus Sweeney, Solicitor
Manus Sweeney & Co. The Capel
Building, Dublin 7.
Dear Sir
Great credit is due to DSBA for the
content of the conference held on
May 9th - “Making a Living from the
Law.” The quality of the speakers was
excellent on the day and the speaker
who had set up in the last three years
gave a most useful and practical and
comprehensive talk on that particular
topic.
The DSBA came across as very
approachable and supportive of the
problems facing young solicitors.
Once again well done for an informed
and interesting morning.
Yours sincerely
Mary Davoren.
Chief State Solicitors Office
4 www.dsba.ie

foreword
the President
As we approach the summer
months many of us are contemplating
the more carefree times of
summer. School’s off, traffic manageable,
easier parking and ease of
access to work place, courts and out of office
meetings and a sense that legal practice may
not be so bad after all!
Of course, we can’t ignore the swirling
clouds hovering around us with bad omens of
increased professional indemnity cover, reduced
practice revenue in some areas and increasing
tax obligations just around the corner.
However, if we are to be honest and objective
these challenges are at least compensated,
in the experience of many colleagues I meet,
by the relatively reduced overheads such as
bank charges, office overdrafts and interest
charges on loan capital, as well as office requisites.
I know also that our employees, both solicitor
colleagues and staff, have responded
exceptionally well to these challenges by the
very sensible approach taken to salary reviews
and in many cases the voluntary assumption of
cut backs and/or altered working conditions.
With every opportunity
I raised this matter with
as many colleagues as
possible and emailed our
membership.
It is with huge pride that I represent you as
president of this Association, now hovering
towards 3,500-4,000 members and encompassing
every type of practice large and small
in the county and city of this great city and
even beyond.
Even in these more challenging times for
legal practice, I’m thrilled to see membership
(which of course is voluntary and a discretionary
spend for offices) holding up very well.
I’m inspired by the welcome addition of almost
all of the larger offices including a few who in
previous years may have faltered or questioned
why they should join up in the first place.
These are issues, which I have been happy
to address with the managing partners of the
larger offices many of whom I took time out
to visit, address their concerns and deal with
the occasional question posed to me as to our
relevance as an Association to them.
I am happy to say that all, bar none, were
other than complimentary as to the work the
DSBA does for the profession as a whole, in
keeping in touch with colleagues, informing
them of important matters and generally
doing our best for them.
But of course we have always suffered, (rather
unfairly I might proffer) in the eyes of the larger
offices as being effectively the SME for small to
medium sized offices. As an office holder of this
Association over the seven years, while never
comfortable with that assessment, I have consciously
and assiduously sought to address this
perception. So when the Law Society introduced
regulations to deal with the fall-out from
Lynn and Byrne my Association was fulsome in
its support for what was proposed in principle.
Essentially the new proposals will prohibit us
from acting in a property matter involving secured
lending if we have a personal involvement
in the transaction. What we did not favour, however,
was the hasty manner in which it was proposed
to have Law Society Council pass and
approve of same without proper and meaningful
consultation with the profession. In this respect,
in Dublin, (unlike the rest of the country,) a well
intentioned letter from the Law Society to the
bar associations throughout the country, which
might tick all the boxes in Leitrim or Clare as a
means of informing the local membership, certainly
does not and cannot work in an area as
large as that serviced by this Association. That is
why, as president of your Bar Association and as
a council member of the Law Society I fought to
secure more time for consultation – a concession
that was grudgingly afforded. With every opportunity
I raised this matter with as many colleagues
as possible and emailed our
membership. I also and crucially got into open
dialogue on this important issue with all the
larger offices and co-hosted a series of meetings
with them when we went through and parsed
the proposed regulations, identified a number of
issues which were felt would, if passed have
detrimental effects on certain areas of legal practice
particularly involving the larger offices and
which otherwise may not have been intended.
I am proud to report that my colleagues on
Law Society Council accepted the amendments
as proposed. So what otherwise might have
been passed in haste and without the scrutiny
that would have come from that greater consultation
with our membership and in particular
our dialogue with the larger offices, the DSBA
were in a position to ensure a more considered
and contemplative result.
So a good months work I believe for the Association
and a result, I believe, hopefully demonstrates
to the larger offices that we too, seek to
represent their concerns as well and are happy
to work as hard in their interests together with
the profession in Dublin as a whole. In conclusion
on this matter I would like to acknowledge
the efforts of Deirdre Anne Barr of Matheson
Ormsby Prentice, Dan O’Connor of Arthur
Cox, Liam Kennedy of A&L Goodbody, Andrew
Muckian of William Fry, Sean Greene of
Eversheds, and my vice John P. O’Malley.
In conclusion, I would like to thank the
very many of my colleagues who have indicated
their support of my Conference to
Chicago in mid September. To those not yet
registered I would urge that you do so as soon
as possible and avail of the cheaper flight options
available at the moment. •
Kevin O’Higgins
President
Dublin Solicitors Bar Association
parchment | Summer 2009 5

Solicitor’s survey highlights
reality of situation
The YDS (Young Dublin Solicitors) commissioned a survey of 100 DSBA members about their views on
the current employment trends of Solicitors in Ireland. Participants were practitioners with five years
post-qualified experience or less. Isabell McCarthy of the YDS Committee examines the results.
It is a stark reality that solicitors have
been severely affected by the downturn
in the economy. In particular, the economic
collapse has been felt most severely
amongst newly qualified solicitors
and it was in response to the DBSA’s concerns
and the concerns of our members, the
YDS decided to circulate a survey in February
of this year. The results of that survey led
to the hosting a free seminar on the 9th May
focusing on the current needs of solicitors
qualified up to five years.
The survey highlighted many new and troubling
trends. The most immediate effects of the
current economic climate began with pay cuts
with 38% of solicitors taking a reduction
in pay – the average pay cut being 15%.
Of note, the majority of those who had not yet
taken a pay cut felt that such a cut was imminent.
It is fair to say that 15% is quite a high
average. In the realm of accountants, Davy
stockbrokers had pay cuts of 8¼% in February
of this year and KPMG introduced pay cuts of
between 5 and 10%. When these percentages
are compared with the results of a DSBA survey
of younger members taken in 2006, wages
are down by an average of 10%.
The survey indicated that 38% of firms
had let newly qualified solicitors go. Perhaps
this is unsurprising given the vast increase
of solicitors qualifying over the past six
years with a record 777 solicitors qualifying
in 2008. It is likely that the figures of students
enrolling for the Professional Course will now
begin to decrease as the profession attempts
to deal with the oversupply of qualifying solicitors
and indeed as training contracts become
more difficult to secure.
Redundancies have too been an unfortunate
feature of the current year with 14% of those
surveyed having been made redundant
and only 3% of that number feeling they received
a fair redundancy package. Half of those
made redundant were qualified one year or less.
Of those surveyed that are still in employment,
48% feared redundancies are imminent.
It is encouraging that 3% of members
have set up in practice by themselves in
the past 12 months. It is hoped that as a profession
we can provide support and collegiality
to encourage and sustain this new growth.
It is obvious that the concerns run deeply
even amongst those still employed. Some 33%
of solicitors are actively seeking employment
in the legal sector and a similar percentage
considering a career change or possibly
working outside the legal sector. The most
popular sources used by solicitors seeking employment
are recruitment agencies and the
Law Society website and Gazette. In the time
since the survey was undertaken, the Law Society
have further developed their career support
section of the website and now have an
on-line career development and job seeking
programme called Expand which is an excellent
resource for anyone facing employment
challenges in this environment.
The average working week is 37.5
hours with 9% of those surveyed working in
excess of 50 hours per week. 81% of those
surveyed confirm that their firms pay for their
practising certificates and professional indemnity
insurance and most contribute towards
CPD course fees. This figure drops to 48%
when considering the cost of membership in
the DSBA or tuition and further education
fees. It is worrying though that there are a
number of newly qualified solicitors in employment
expected to pay or contribute towards
their Professional Indemnity Insurance
and/ or Practising Certificate.
It is interesting to note that 44% do not
have a written contact of employment
(which is illegal) and 57% are not aware of
their firm’s grievance procedure. Victimisation
in the workplace has been experienced by 14%
and 21% have felt intimidated at work at
some stage. A concerning result was that 17%
of solicitors qualified up to two years do not
consider their work to be that of a solicitor.
The YDS are cognisant that the survey was
undertaken in February of this year and that
the end of the first quarter saw more pay cuts,
reductions in working weeks, temporary layoffs
and redundancies. The current number of
solicitors who have been made redundant is
quite possibly significantly higher than in the
foregoing results. The YDS further acknowledges
that this survey was notified to members
by e-mail and any solicitors who were made redundant
would not necessarily have had access
to these e-mail addresses any longer.
The general feeling coming back from our
colleagues is that confidence has been diminished
in the strength of the profession, leaving
a sense of isolation in not knowing where
options lie.
However, this has to be seen as an opportunity
to develop. Most newly qualified solicitors
have never before experienced the challenges
presented by an economic downturn. We must
develop new skills to utilise our existing and
considerable abilities in a way that reflects the
changing needs in the current climate.
Through communication of information,
support and the promotion of collegiality the
YDS hopes to assist its members through this
challenging time in our careers. •
Note: The survey was not carried out by a professional
body but by the YDS Committee. This
survey does not purport to be a complete statement
or summary. No liability (either expressed
or implied) for the accuracy of the data delineated
herein is assumed by the YDS / the DSBA
or their employees or agents. The YDS data is
provided for demonstration purposes only and
may not be distributed without prior written permission
from the YDS/DSBA.
Isabell McCarthy is a solicitor with Ahern
O’Shea Solicitors.
6 www.dsba.ie

dsba website forum competition
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way to €2000!
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To celebrate the launch of the www.DSBA.ie discussion Forum we are offering you
the chance to win a new website worth €2000 thanks to Webtrade.
To ENTER – simply log onto the DSBA discussion forum at www.dsba.ie leave a blog or thread on the site. This can relate to
legal or social matter whatever you, as a DSBA member want to discuss. Then go to our competition area on the forum
and answer a simple question and you’re in with a chance to win.
If you do not have your username and password yet or have forgotten it please contact anna@dsba.ie The winner will be announced
in the next edition of the Parchment.
So Click on www.dsba.ie and win
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PH: 01 2990655
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Terms and conditions: The competition will run from July 1st until August 31st.The winner will be chosen at random by the DSBA technology committee. The prize
winner will be notified via email in September and also the winner will be announced in the next edition of the Parchment Magazine. Only one entry per member.
The prize is non-transferable and refers only to the development of a new website based on Webtrades’s Siternity Lite Package, including website design, content
management of the website, a photo gallery and hosting of the site. The winner must sign up to subsequent yearly license amount of €500. No staff member of
Webtrade or the DSBA can enter. This promotion cannot be used in conjunction with any other promotional package offered by Webtrade Limited. Extending the
promotion and further discounts is at the discretion of Webtrade Ltd.

Election lawyers
With the Local, European, and bye-elections behind us, our DSBA President Kevin O’Higgins thought
he would pay tribute to those hardy legal souls amongst us who took the brave step to stand. This was
almost exclusively in the local elections, with one exception where colleague David Geary stood in one of
the two bye-elections.
So who made up this courageous and
resilient grouping and how did they
find the time and the stamina to plod
the streets of our City and County in
search of our endorsements? What
are the masochistic tendencies which make up
each of their dna’s that propelled them into
somewhere between a six and nine month
odyssey known as the campaign- a form of self
flagellation unique to virtually anywhere in the
world. Where else do canvassers carry on in
such a personalised way as here? Door to door
canvassing, the avalanche of leaflet drops, the
forest of expensive postering, one and all trying
to out do the next with the perceived latest new
telecommunication phenomenon (now it’s apparently
this twittering lark!). We are as a race,
fascinated still by politics and when elections
come around we see it as just another sport to
participate and get involved in.
Anyway, back to our legal heroes and heroines.
Is it the slow down that has made this all
possible? Barnstorming down the streets in their
locality might even be more attractive than raising
requisitions – if we’d anything to requisition!
But doesn’t it take a particular breed (and I
know I might be biased). Someone who genuinely
loves the chat and dialogue with the citizen
on the doorstep. It really does imbue me at
any rate – this sort of connection with people
that translates politics in its purest sense.
I caught up with two young ladies –
Catherine Noone, a bright young, vivacious
Mayo lady who qualified four years ago and
works with DFMG in Ballsbridge and my
DSBA Council colleague Claire O’Regan
who qualified six years ago and is a criminal
lawyer with MacGuill & Co.
Catherine decided to take the plunge and tog
out for Fine Gael in the newly configured ward
of South East Inner City. The area embraces that
part of the City from the south side from the
Canal to the Liffey, encompassing Ringsend,
part of Sandymount, and as far as Portobello.
Catherine was a first timer and found herself
running in an area where FG had not held a seat
for 18 years. She was successful in beating off
the established and sitting Sinn Fein councilor as
well as the Fianna Fail candidate for the last seat
– a considerable achievement.
“Our training and ability
to assimilate complex
issues, reviewing
documentation and
legislation and our
knowledge and way
around the planning code
and legislation is a distinct
advantage for a lawyer.”
What did she think of the campaign, I
asked? “It was tough! The days were long.
Canvassing in an area as diverse as this had its
own challenges. One part of the day you
might be in your own comfort zone of leafy
Sandymount and then find yourself an hour
later in inner city areas of considerable dereliction.
Perhaps, in the past a FG candidate
might have avoided these areas. I didn’t, and I
feel it paid dividends and I may well have
leaked some votes away from Sinn Fein and
the Left”. I wondered what she thought of the
particular qualities or attributes a solicitor
brought to the election and local authority
politics? “Our training and ability to assimilate
complex issues, reviewing documentation and
legislation and our knowledge and way around
the planning code and legislation is a distinct
advantage for a lawyer.”
Being a non-Dub, like Catherine, does not
seem to have been a handicap either for Limerick
reared Claire O’Regan who stood in the
North Inner City area and was also successful.
Her election has been particularly welcomed in
the DSBA as Claire has been a valuable member
of our Council for the last couple of years.
Unfortunately, Claire was on holidays when I
was putting this article together so I have been
unable as yet to get her first hand observations.
Barry Conway, a corporate lawyer and partner
in William Fry, stood for Fianna Fail in the
Blackrock ward in Dun Laoghaire Rathdown.
Having been co-opted in 2003 he was successfully
elected in 2004. However, he found this recent
election a more chastening experience and
just lost out to a strong performance from both
Fine Gael and the re-emergence of an independent
candidate who regained a seat. “Unfortunately,
I found that on this occasion that local
issues were sidelined and submerged by national
issues in the minds of the electorate so that my
work on the ground over the previous five or six
8 www.dsba.ie

news
years was, to an extent, marginalised.” Barry
strongly believes that lawyers have an important
role to play in politics and can bring to it important
skills and attributes of familiarity with people
and dealing with their diverse problems on a
daily basis. ”It’s important that we continue to
offer ourselves for public service and I’m delighted
that, notwithstanding my own failure to
be elected on this occasion that a number of our
colleagues such as Catherine Noone, Claire
O’Regan, Tom Brabazon on the solicitor side
and Jim O’Callaghan, Barry Ward, and Oisin
Quinn from the Law Library were successful”.
By my count 21 lawyers stood in the Local
Elections for the four Local Authorities in
Dublin. There were six successes – three solicitors
and three barristers. The other successful
solicitor was Tom Brabazon of TJ Brabazon in
Fairview who stood successfully for Fianna Fail
in the Donaghmede Ward. To have been able to
withstand the gale belting against FF on this
occasion was a huge success for Tom and a
tribute clearly to his ability to run his campaign
on local issues where clearly the residents were
happy with the work he was doing on the
ground. I caught up with Tom. Contrary to
Barry Conway’s experience from Blackrock he
found the electorate were prepared to look at
the national and local issues as distinct. “I had
worked pretty hard on the ground and fortunately
for me the good people of Donaghmede
were prepared to recognise that, however unpopular
feelings they may have borne for the
Government luckily, in my case, while they
may have thought “national” in the Europeans
they thought “local” in my own election”
The successful barristers were Barry Ward
(FG) –Blackrock who was a first time candidate
and ran a superb team campaign with his
running mate to secure a gain for FG. Good to
see Jim O’Callaghan SC finally savoring electoral
success after a number of fruitless outings.
Jim took the last seat for FF in the highly competitive
Pembroke Ward but at the expense of a
long time party stalwart Michael Donnelly.
Likewise in the same Ward, Oisin Quinn SC
came through for Labour and must be odds on
now to have a run in the General Election
when his uncle Ruairi is expected to bow out.
Commiserations must be offered to our colleagues
John Hennessey ( FF) of Hennessy &
Perozzi in Swords; Niamh Moran (FF) of
Niamh Moran & Co Tyrellstown Dublin 15
who stood in the Mulhuddart area, Sean
Browne (Non-party) of Con O’Connor & Co
in Ballbriggan, Malachy Steenson, Damian
Cassidy of Walker & Co ( Independent) who
stood in the South East Inner City Ward, Dermot
Flanagan (FF) of Flanagan Solicitors Saggart
who stood in Tallaght South and David
Geary who stood in the Dublin Central Bye
Election for the Green Party. Unsuccessful barristers
were Fred Gilligan (FF) (son of my
great friend Mary Cantrell of Cantrell & Co
Blackrock), Eamonn Walsh (FF) who stood in
the Lucan Ward and Catherine Ardagh (FF)
who stood in the South West Inner City.
It’s far too easy to sit on the fence, and take
pot shots at those who are prepared to put
themselves forward. Unquestionably you have
to be made of the right stuff. A thick neck certainly
helps. Eyes in the back of your head and
a bulletproof vest might also come in handy.
But to be serious while a certain element of
ego has to form part of the mix that sort of
nonsense is soon cut down to size. It’s a considerable
sacrifice, a huge commitment of
time and energy and no one could do it without
an overwhelming commitment to their
community. So I commend each and every
one of our colleagues who put themselves at
the mercy of the electorate and especially wish
all the very best to Catherine Noone, Tom
Brabazon and especially my DSBA Council
colleague Claire O’ Regan on their great successes
and wish them all the very best in the
years ahead. •
Kevin O’Higgins is President of the DSBA and
practices in Blackrock, Co. Dublin.
parchment | Summer 2009 9

New landmark
Criminal Courts of
Justice set to open
Over the past number of years a major need has emerged for a dedicated Criminal Court
building for Dublin. The criminal courts across the city centre and the Four Courts complex
have struggled to cope with the levels of business presenting itself. As the new landmark
Criminal Courts building on the edge of the Phoenix Park is nearing completion, John
Geary takes a look at the new world class facilities which will open later this year.
10 www.dsba.ie

courts complex
Irish Courts deal with almost 400,000
criminal matters every year. Over half of
these are heard in Dublin and such volume
of work has led to difficulties arising
in the system.
The new location, perched on the corner
of Parkgate Street and Infirmary Road will
soon be home to the new Criminal Courts
complex. It will house the Court of Criminal
Appeal, Special Criminal Court, Central
Criminal Court, the Circuit Criminal
Court, the District Courts and associated
facilities. The project will provide a centralised
facility to cater for all criminal
court business in Dublin which was badly
needed and long overdue. The landmark
building has resulted in the greatest investment
in court buildings and services since
the building of the Four Courts was completed
in 1796.
According to the Courts Service, the
complex will contain 22 courtrooms which
will be enabled for video-conferencing, digital
recording, and electronic display of evidence.
There will be first class consultation
rooms and waiting areas, modern and various
sizes of courtrooms and facilities for jurors
will be provided. In addition,
accommodation for witnesses, victims, relatives
etc will be greatly enhanced in terms of
privacy, security and comfort. There will be
dedicated facilities for legal practitioners
and the media. The new building will provide
for the separation, privacy, security and
protection of different court users such as
witnesses, jurors, and the judiciary.
The new public plaza entrance in the iconic
new court building will be called the Great
Hall. It is being described by the Court Service
as “reminiscent of the Four Courts Round
Hall but more like Rome’s Pantheon in terms
of scale.”
When the new complex is completed later
this year, the Four Courts will be largely dealing
with Civil and Constitutional matters. The
Courts Service say that the extra space available
at the Four Courts will be developed for
use as improved Supreme Court, and High
Court civil law facilities. Plans are being developed
for this work to begin upon the completion
of the new complex.
Babcock & Brown, the global investment
and advisory firm are ‘partners’ with the
Courts Service in undertaking the completion
of the ambitious new state of the art
criminal justice facility. The project is being
delivered by means of a Public Private Partnership
and will cost the Court Service some
€300 million over 28 years.
The 11-storey building is designed to
overcome the security, service delivery and
logistical problems of running criminal trials
in a number of sites dispersed throughout
the Four Courts campus and central
city locations. In particular, there was an
urgent need to overcome the security and
Summary of New Criminal
Courts Complex
Courts and ancillary facilities
❯ Sixteen jury courtrooms and seven
non-jury courtrooms configured to
be usable by all of the criminal jurisdictions.
❯ Sixteen jury rooms accessible from
jury courtrooms in a secure area.
❯ Thirty-one consultation rooms.
❯ Victim support rooms and ancillary
facilities within a secure area.
❯ Twenty-six Judges Chambers and ancillary
facilities in a secure area.
❯ A large jury assembly space in a secure
area sufficient to cater for up to
400 people called for jury service.
❯ Facilities for prosecution witnesses
(including vulnerable witnesses in a
secure area)
Professional facilities
❯ Legal practitioners’ rooms in a secure
area with ancillary facilities including
prison video link.
❯ Accommodation and facilities in a secure
area for the DPP, Prosecution
Solicitors, Court Presenters, Gardai
and Probation and Welfare Service.
❯ A media room and small broadcast
studio.
Secure area
❯ Cell accommodation for up to 100
prisoners.
❯ A prisoner reception area with ancillary
facilities.
❯ Prison Officer accommodation and
facilities.
❯ A Control Room and Prison Van
Dock
Staff
❯ Accommodation and facilities for in
excess of 60 staff combined from the
three jurisdictions
❯ A large Public Office dealing with all
business from the three jurisdictions.
❯ Meeting rooms and storage
other implications of continuing with the
present arrangements whereby it is necessary
to transport prisoners in handcuffs
through public areas from one end of the
courts complex to the other and from public
streets. •
Entry area
❯ A great hall entrance with sufficient
circulation space for safe access and
egress
❯ A substantial security presence and
security monitoring equipment
❯ An information/reception desk and a
separate jury reception desk
Information technology
❯ Two fully equipped technology
courts and two further courts to be
cabled to support full technology use
❯ All courtrooms to be cabled to support
video conferencing and digital
audio recording
❯ A Central Communications room
and local communications rooms on
each floor
❯ Sound proof booths within technology
courts and video conferencing booths
adjacent to video conferencing courts
❯ A computer room and video link
rooms for taking testimony from vulnerable
witnesses
General
❯ Accommodation and facilities for security
and jury minding personnel
❯ Kitchen and restaurant facilities and
separate dining for juries
❯ Parking for prison vans and official
personnel
parchment | Summer 2009 11

Kean to impress
Gerald Kean is the country’s most famous solicitor, like it or not. He’s ubiquitous. The radio, the tabs, the
Sundays, BBC, RTE, occasionally even his office. He fascinates, infuriates, resonates and frustrates
in equal measure. Many solicitors can’t stand him, most ladies of a certain age love him. He is many
things but he ain’t boring. Gerald Kean is box office and try as we might to ignore him, we can’t.
Do we love to hate him or hate that we love him? The Parchment needed an answer so we sent
Stuart Gilhooly to meet the real Gerald Kean, the solicitor and the man behind the media creation.
Eight to ten minutes. That’s how
long it takes Gerald Kean. I tell
him it takes me a good bit longer
and they feel a bit short-changed
if I try to finish before they are
ready. But Gerald Kean makes them feel
special, like they are the only ones and he
won’t think about anybody or anything else
for the remainder of the day.
Yes, indeed, client consultations are short
affairs in Kean’s world. But it’s easy to see
why they keep coming back for more. When
he engages with you, it’s impressive. And the
first ten minutes will knock you over. It’s
only when you spend a bit more time with
the phenomenon that is the Kean machine,
that you begin to scratch the surface and see
another side.
He says he is down to earth but uses his
honorary doctorate in correspondence. He’s
not driven by money yet won’t give a partnership
for fear of losing some of his considerable
wealth. He wants to improve Irish
life but won’t run for public office. He
claims not to care what people think of him
yet drops the names of celebrity clients and
friends at every opportunity. At the same
time, he is warm, friendly, entertaining and
extremely generous with both time and
money. Phew, work that out.
When I meet him in his office, I’m one
minute late but he is there waiting. He’s never
met me before but greets me like a long lost
friend. As we walk out the door, he is button
holed by a road worker who, after an initial
blankness, also receives the Kean treatment
when he explains he knows him from Mayfield.
As we walk to his Bentley, he announces
that his favourite restaurant across the road,
Dax, is closed so he is whisking me off to the
Four Seasons. I suppose I wasn’t expecting a
sandwich in O’Briens.
Oliver is his driver and appears to have
been around for quite some time. Kean, typically,
is very open about his drink driving
conviction. Three glasses of red wine over a
four-hour period and a four-course meal,
apparently. He tells me he is not much of a
drinker but loves a glass of red wine. Being
the shrewd media operator that he is, he realised
that fighting the case would have a
very negative effect so to his credit, he threw
his hands up immediately. More work for
Oliver by the looks of it, so.
As the Bentley glides through the Monday
lunchtime traffic, Kean chats away amiably
and leans from behind the back seat to
look at me when he is talking. It’s an important
part of his modus operandi. It is a large
reason why the clients keep on coming and
the media keeps calling. As we pull into the
Four Seasons, I know what it’s like to be in
the presence of celebrity. He is greeted by
anyone and everyone that he passes who all
know him by name.
In a sign of the times, the restaurant is three
quarters empty but Kean’s larger than life
personality fills it. When I ask him if I can tape
the conversation, he unhesitatingly agrees. I
make him promise to be honest and not spin
media replies at me. The Sindo we are not.
As most know by now, he was born in
Cork in 1957. He is the son of Patricia
Hamilton, sister of the late Chief Justice Liam
Hamilton. His parents though were simple
people. The only holiday they ever took in
their first 30 years of marriage was to Liverpool
on the B & I ferry on honeymoon. His
father was a guard who couldn’t have been
more different to him in the sense that even
wearing a suit was alien to him. He seems to
have got his love of fashion and style from his
mother. Both were inveterate smokers and
died of smoking related illnesses.
He went to school in Cork before moving
with his parents to Wicklow. College
was UCD and a BCL. He did his apprenticeship
with his uncle, Donal Hamilton. In
a somewhat sad coincidence, this interview
is taking place on the day that his next employer
Michael Martin is being removed
for his funeral. He speaks fondly of him
and remembers that his first introduction
to litigation was with Michael who was a
director of PMPA at the time and did
largely defence litigation.
In time, Kean set up on his own and his
first premises were just above Joe Deane’s
office on Exchequer Street. It was around
then, towards the end of the eighties, at approximately
the time that Gordon Gekko
was uttering those immortal words “Greed,
for want of a better word, is good” that the
Gerald Kean that we know today began to
take shape.
He met a man called Jens Madsen in 1988
who had done what at the time was the
largest retail deal in the State. “I remember
12 www.dsba.ie

cover story
parchment | Summer 2009 13

14 www.dsba.ie
the headline was 30% of the entire retail market
was sold for £24 million – Dundalk,
Drogheda, Nutgrove, Janelle, Athlone, Hartstown
– all the shopping centres”
Madsen had no solicitor at the time (could
you imagine the beauty parade for such a deal
today!) so Kean used his redoubtable charms
and agreed to represent him. He did the deal
and not only that obtained a considerable
bonus when he got a further £1 million for
his client for the sale of the properties. He still
talks admiringly and in glowing terms of his
opposite number Hugh O’Neill (“the finest
solicitor in Ireland”), who works with Noel
Smyth. No wonder. His fees were £300,000
and “a present” of £150,000.
“This was a huge sum at the time. It
bought me a castle in Killiney and my premises
on Pembroke Street with no mortgages
and then I was on the way.”
His connection with Madsen was in some
ways even more important in that it introduced
him to the world of celebrity. He says
that Jens brought him into contact with Simon
Le Bon and Jim Kerr. He then astounds me
by telling me that when he invited them to
Killiney he was criticised by a Sunday newspaper
for not stepping into the picture. Lesson
learned there. Never again would that
criticism be levelled at him.
It is at this point that the name-dropping begins
in earnest. He then began to act for Johnny
Cash and Jerry Lee Lewis. He came across the
footballers by accident as when having breakfast
in the Penny Farthing coffee shop, he met Mrs
McGrath. Yep, you guessed it, Paul’s ma. He
was looking for a lawyer and then followed
Norman Whiteside, Dave Watson, Paul Robinson,
Gary Speed, Shay Given. Peter Reid is described
as “a great friend of mine”.
It is though when he calls Alan Shearer “his
closest friend” that I have to take him up on
this. He retracts a little and says Shearer is
merely his closest friend in football. When I
ask him what legal work he does for these footballers,
he is more than a little vague. It would
appear that advice and contracts are loosely
the transactions he deals with. When I point
out that most Premiership footballers would
use English solicitors, he rather strangely says
that some Irish footballers like English solicitors
and English ones might use him. He says
he acts for 40 current premiership footballers
but in a departure from the norm he drops
just the name of Paul Robinson.
In fairness to Gerald, he is at pains to tell
me that this celebrity work represents only
4% of his practice and just 10% of his income.
Most of his work is ordinary people,
many of them referrals, some through his

cover story
profile. “The guy having an accident, doing a
will, they are vital to me.”
He begins work at six thirty in the morning
and has no less than four tapes done by nine
o’clock. He sleeps just four or five hours a
night and often takes bags of files home with
him. He has “two and a half wonderful” secretaries
that can’t keep up with him.
He truly believes in treating people with respect
and there is no doubt that this is where
his greatest strength lies. It may seem self-evident
and we would all like to think we do the
same thing but my suspicion is we don’t do it
as well as Gerald Kean.
“When people come into the office, I ask
them how’s the family, how’s the weather –
make sure you ring the office next week to
make an appointment.”
He may not see them next time but he will
send them a personal letter after the meeting
and they leave truly believing that the great
Gerald Kean likes and respects them. It
sounds easy to replicate but it’s not, not on a
wet Tuesday afternoon when the fifth client
comes with the fifth different problem that
they want fixed straight away.
They don’t come to Gerald Kean because
he’s the best solicitor in Ireland but because
he’s the best communicator in the solicitor’s
profession.
With all of these clients, I ask him why doesn’t
he step back a bit and share the burden like
most successful practices, take a partner or two.
At this point, I see a shift in persona. The
charming, all things to all men side is replaced
by a much more ruthless businessman.
“I have a very simple philosophy. I would
go into partnership with my secretary (if I was
allowed) if she brought in business. But nobody
else in my office is bringing
in work. I don’t need a
partner. If a solicitor in
my practice comes to
me who is earning
€120,000 and looks
for a partnership,
I’ll let them go and
replace them with a
solicitor earning
€70,000. I remember a solicitor
that worked for me
once saying I earned €45,000 for
you today and I said no, I earned it, my apprentice
could have done that.”
He realises that this makes him appear callous
and rows back by telling me he looks
after his assistants in other ways “a car, a deposit
for a house, but at my discretion”.
Soon, we are back in comfortable territory
when we talk about his image. I tell him that
he is not universally liked in the legal profession
and some people think his lavish lifestyle
gives us all a bad name. He is initially taken
aback and concedes, “It may be a good
point”. He soon gathers himself and tells me
that anyone who comments tells him that he
“is a breath of fresh air.”
This was a huge sum at
the time. It bought me a
castle in Killiney and my
premises on Pembroke
Street with no mortgages
and then I was on the way.
“If you don’t have people jealous of you
then you have a problem. If people aren’t
talking about you, if they’re not jealous of
you or begrudge you, then I don’t think
you’re up to much. You need a kick up the
arse and get going.”
He then tells me about various dinners and
events he has attended around the country. It
recently took him four and a half hours to get
out of a hotel in Clonmel such was the demand
for autographs and photographs from
the 550 women there. He went to Dundrum
with his daughter and was stopped for three
photographs and four autographs.
He brings the subject of his 50th birthday
party up himself and talks it down to such a
degree that you start to believe him till
he starts dropping names again.
It seems that Belinda
Carlisle, The Thrills,
Martin Fry of ABC,
Lloyd Cole and
Aslan are just close
friends and he
thought he’d just
have a concert with
an Amadeus and
French twist. He sounds
almost surprised that it
ended up in the newspapers.
But it’s when he tells me Bill Cullen is his
best friend that I can’t help myself anymore. I
want to know that if Bill is his very best friend,
Shearer his closest football friend, who is his
best friend forever? At this stage, he is almost
embarrassed. He then tells me of seven or
eight close friends for over thirty years.
His media persona has given him a great opportunity
to influence public opinion, which he
seems to grab at every possible chance. I put to
him that hurling on the ditch is the easiest thing
that anyone can do and if he really wanted to
make a difference he should run for the Dail.
He says he has been approached by three political
parties but won’t run for public office because
he hates bureaucracy.
Gerald Kean loves to be loved. If he ran in a
general election, he’d be a shoo-in but he
knows that the wheels of democracy turn
slowly. More importantly, he knows that when
you seek election, you become accountable to
the people and, as George Lee is about to find
out, it’s easier to be outside the tent looking in
then inside looking out.
You see with Gerald Kean, it’s all about the
love. The last words of the last Beatles album
claimed that “in the end the love you take is
equal to the love you make”. This seems to be a
Kean mantra. He gives a huge amount of love
and time to charity, to people and to clients but
in return he expects you to love him back.
As Oliver drops me back to my office, I reflect
about Dr Gerald Kean. He is great company,
a fantastic raconteur and he name
checked more celebrities than in an average
episode of Xposé. I think about the Bentley,
the mansion, the celebs and the money and
realise that this man is no ordinary solicitor.
Oscar Wilde said “the only thing that’s worse
than being talked about is not being talked
about”. Gerald Kean is safe on that score. •
parchment | Summer 2009 15

Hennessy dodges
another bullet
John Hennessy is a busy man. When he is not avoiding being shot by a fairly determined criminal, he
can be seen running for Fianna Fail in the local elections (not sure which is more dangerous!). And to
top it all, he became the subject of a very strange decision by an insurance company who seemed
determined to prove he is an accident fraudster. That they have failed spectacularly has not only
enlarged the legend of Hennessy but also served to prove that some insurance companies can be both
extraordinarily stupid and vindictive. A very potent combination.
The story begins on 22 February 2004
when John took a riding lesson with
his then girlfriend in the Adare Manor
Equestrian Centre. He was a very inexperienced
horse rider and was
thrown from the horse. He sustained a relatively
serious back injury which resulted in surgery.
He subsequently initiated a claim against
the equestrian centre who were insured. They
apparently had no record of the incident and
denied that it happened. This is not an infrequent
event in personal injuries litigation but
the Defendant went further in this case and
specifically alleged at the hearing of the action
that it was a fraud. Needless to say, this is
the most serious accusation that can be made
against a solicitor.
John employed a colleague Liam Moloney, a
Naas based personal injury specialist to run the
case for him and they subsequently made the
very intelligent decision to instruct the best double
act in personal injuries litigation, Declan
Doyle and Michael Byrne as their senior counsel.
The case commenced in November last year
in front of Mr Justice John Quirke. The case
nearly descended into farce as Hennessy’s by
then ex-girlfriend did not attend court to give
evidence and the trial had to be adjourned to
allow a subpoena to be served. The hearing recommenced
in May of this year. Most importantly,
the adjournment provided the
opportunity to track down a former employee
of the equestrian centre, Hazel Millar, who was
able to remember the incident relatively clearly.
Katy Hogan, armed with her subpoena, was a
very strong witness and also confirmed that the
accident had occurred as he had said.
Finally, an equestrian expert, former international
show jumper John Watson gave evidence
that some form of assessment of a
rider’s capabilities must be carried out before
letting them onto a horse. In this instance,
John Hennessy had been provided with a
horse while his instructor, Ms Millar went off
to find another horse to accompany him. In
the period while she was gone, the horse took
off and entered the arena. John fell off the
back of the horse and onto fencing which he
broke with his fall. Mr Watson said that as
John Hennessy had very little experience, he
should not have been left alone at any time
until the instructor could observe how the
horse and rider were interacting. This is particularly
important where the horse is near
fences that are “jumpable”.
Mr Justice Quirke reached the conclusion that
the Defendant was negligent in failing to carry
out a brief assessment of the rider and horse and
then leaving them alone in that manner.
However, it was on the issue of the alleged
fraud that the trial judge reserved his ire. In a
scathing attack on the Defendants and their
insurers, he lambasted them for failing to
carry out any proper investigation before
making the most serious allegation against
Hennessy. He pointed out that they were
aware of the accident for three years prior to
the hearing and yet had made no attempt to
contact Ms Hogan or Ms Millar (who was actually
originally in their employment).
In describing their behaviour, Mr Justice
Quirke said:
“The allegation made against the plaintiff…was
made with disregard for its consequences
upon the plaintiff’s reputation…If
sustained it might have had lasting and very
damaging implications for the plaintiff who
(like many others), relies upon his reputation to
make his living… I consider this to be a matter
of the utmost gravity. The defendant and his indemnifiers
have gravely and grossly wronged
the plaintiff. The wrong has been compounded
by the irresponsible, reckless and cavalier manner
in which the wrong was perpetrated.”
An application for aggravated and exemplary
damages had been made by Hennessy’s
senior counsel both before the trial and in
submissions at the end. Unsurprisingly, Mr
Justice Quirke agreed that this was an appropriate
case. In awarding €30,000 under this
heading in addition to €45,000 in respect of
the injury itself, he said:
“The purpose of the additional award is (a)
to compensate the plaintiff for the added hurt
and insult caused by the defendant’s outrageous
conduct, (b) to mark the disapproval of
the community for such conduct and (c) to
deter the defendant and his indemnifiers from
similar conduct in the future.”
No doubt this judgment will have that effect
for these particular indemnifiers but will other
insurance companies take heed? Whatever the
effect, it will hopefully put an end to the greatest
lie of all, namely that there are so many
fraudulent claims. In his judgment, Mr Justice
Quirke firmly debunks this myth when he
says, “contrary to what is frequently reported
in newspapers and elsewhere, deliberately fabricated
fraudulent personal injuries claims are
very rare in this jurisdiction.”
Quite what this insurer hoped to achieve is
not clear to anyone with experience in this line
of work but the upshot was an egregious injustice
exacted upon John Hennessy. Luckily,
he has survived worse and he has lived to tell
this tale as well.
In the end, justice was done and our hero
rides again. Or maybe not. •
Stuart Gilhooly
16 www.dsba.ie

litigation
John Hennessy had been
provided with a horse
while his instructor,
Ms Millar went off to
find another horse to
accompany him
parchment | Summer 2009 17

Landlords take note
Rachel Rogers examines the tightening of regulations relating to rental properties.
18 www.dsba.ie

landlord & tenant
Clients who already own or are in
the process of buying residential
properties for investment and
rental purposes should be advised
of the existence of the updated
Housing (Standards for Rented Houses) Regulations
2008.
The 2008 Regulations replace and build on
the earlier 1993 Regulations governing prescribed
standards for rental properties. The
new regulations place more onerous obligations
on landlords to provide tenants with a
property that is structurally sound, properly
ventilated, heated and maintained. One of the
main aims of the 2008 Regulations is to slowly
get rid of bed sit type accommodation.
Commencement
The 2008 Regulations shall apply to all new
tenancies from 1st February 2009. A tenancy
includes a periodic tenancy and a tenancy for a
fixed term, whether oral, in writing or implied.
The 2008 Regulations will affect existing tenancies
on a phased basis. The provisions dealing
with sanitary and heating facilities, food
preparation, storage and laundry shall only affect
existing tenancies from 1st February 2013.
Those relating to the structural condition of the
property, ventilation, lighting, fire safety, refuse,
electricity and gas installations will affect existing
tenancies from 1 February 2009.
An “existing tenancy” means one where the
property has been let for rent or valuable consideration
soley as a dwelling between 1st
September 2004 and 31st January 2009.
Standard of repair
In terms of the repair obligations of the landlord
referred to throughout the 2008 Regulations,
the landlord is obliged only to adhere to
a standard of repair that is “reasonable in the
circumstances”. What is deemed reasonable is
measured against the “age, character and
prospective life of the house”.
Key provisions
Structural condition – All houses must be
in a proper state of structural repair which
means that all properties must be essentially
sound, with the roof, all ceilings and floors in
good repair, without any serious damp or rot
or being liable to collapse.
Sanitary facilities – Each property must
have, for its exclusive use, a toilet with a dedicated
wash hand basin and a fixed bath or
shower with a continuous supply of cold water
and a facility for the supply of hot water. The
bathroom must be separate from other rooms,
must be separately ventilated, should be maintained
in good working order, have effective
drainage, should be properly insulated and secured
and should adhere to minimum capacity
requirements for hot and cold water
storage facilities.
Heating facilities – Every habitable room
(does not necessarily include the kitchen) of
the house must have a permanent fixed appliance
that provides heat and the house must
have adequate facility for the safe removal of
any fumes to the external air. The tenant must
be able to independently regulate the operation
of the heating appliance.
Food preparation, storage & laundry –
Each house must have a four ring hob with an
oven and grill, an extractor fan, a fridge and
freezer or fridge-freezer, a microwave, a sink
with piped cold water and a facility for piped
hot water, adequate presses for food storage, a
washing machine, and where there is no garden
or yard, a dryer or access to communal
washing and drying facilities. All must be
maintained by the landlord in good working
order and repair.
Ventilation – All habitable rooms must have
adequate ventilation, which is to be maintained
in good repair and working order. Particular
reference is made to the removal of
water vapour from the bathroom and kitchen
to the external air.
Lighting – Every habitable room must have
adequate natural light and all rooms, as well
as any stairs, landing and hall must have access
to artificial lighting. The windows of all
bathrooms should be suitably screened to ensure
privacy.
Fire safety – Every house should have a fire
blanket and either a mains wired smoke alarm
or at least two ten-year self-contained battery
operated smoke alarms. Every self-contained
unit within a multi-unit building should contain
a mains wired smoke alarm, a fire blanket
and should have an emergency evacuation
plan with emergency lighting linked to the fire
alarm system.
Refuse facilities – Tenants should be provided
with access to suitable and adequate
pest and vermin-proof refuse storage facilities.
The communal refuse facilities in an apartment
block are thought to be adequate.
Electricity & gas – Installations for the supply
of electricity and gas should be maintained
by the landlord in safe working order and repair
with mechanisms in place to remove any
fumes to the external air.
Enforcement and exemption
The 2008 Regulations do not refer to enforcement
mechanisms or penalties /sanctions
for non-compliance. Therefore the success of
the 2008 Regulations in heightening standards
within the private rented housing sector
will depend on local authorities adopting a
rigorous approach to the standard of housing
by inspecting private rented dwellings on a
regular basis.
It should be noted that the 2008 Regulations
do not apply to holiday homes, to houses
let by the Heath Service Executive, or a Housing
Authority in accordance with Article 4 of
the 2008 Regulations. •
Rachel Rodgers is an assistant solicitor
at Hayes Solicitors.
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Mediation and
Dispute Resolution
In the first of a two-part series, John O'Connor takes a look at recent
developments in Mediation and Alternative Dispute Resolution.
Much of the early enthusiasm
for Mediation and Alternative
Dispute Resolution (ADR)
arose out of frustration with
the Courts both in relation to
the time delays and general inadequacies including
costs of the litigation process. However
with the development of modern business particularly
in relation to the Commercial Court,
ADR and mediation in particular is now seen
as an integral part of the dispute resolution
process, which is used to compliment the settlement
process in litigation.
In England and Wales following Lord W
Wolfe’s report “Access to Justice” they implemented
the Civil Procedure Rules 1998 [CPR]
and the Access to Justice Act 1999. This revolutionised
ADR and mediation in England and
Wales. The then Lord Chancellor Lord Irvine
in 1998 in a foreword to CPR stated “We
should see litigation as the last and not the first
resort in an attempt to settle a dispute. He further
stated about CPR “the changes introduced
in April (1999) are as much change in culture
as they are changes to the Rules themselves.” In
Ireland provision for mediation has been provided
in the following Acts:
❯ Judicial Separation and Family Law Reform
Act 1989
❯ Family Law (Divorce) Act 1996
❯ Employment Equality Act 1998
❯ Family Support Agency Act 2001
❯ Residential Tenancies Act 2004
❯ Equality Act 2004
❯ Disability Act 2005
❯ Medical Practitioners Act 2007
Section 15 of the Civil Liability and Courts
Act provides that a Judge may direct parties to
hold a meeting known as a “Mediation Conference”.
What has revolutionised mediation
in Ireland in recent times is the Commercial
Court and Statutory Instrument No. 2 of
2004 sets out the Rules of the Superior
Courts (Commercial Proceedings) 2004.
Rule 6 (1) (XIII) states as follows:
“On the application of any of the parties or
of his own motion, that the proceedings or any
issue therein be adjourned for such time, not exceeding
twenty eight days, as he considers appropriate
to allow the parties time to consider
whether such proceedings or issue ought to be
referred to a process of mediation, conciliation
or arbitration, and where the parties decide so to
refer the proceedings or issue, to extend the
time for compliance by any party with any provision
of these Rules or any order of the Court”.
What this means is that either party to the
20 www.dsba.ie

litigation
dispute or the Judge himself can halt proceedings
for a month to discuss the options of
ADR with other parties.
In practical terms the presiding Judge in the
Commercial Court Mr. Justice Peter Kelly is a
very strong supporter of ADR and mediation in
particular and will let it be known to the parties
at the commencement of the action if he considers
the case is suitable to an ADR procedure.
Practitioners can also expect that new rules
will be made in the High Court and the Circuit
Court providing for a mechanism for a mediation
conference in appropriate circumstances.
The changes introduced
in April (1999) are as
much change in culture
as they are changes to
the Rules themselves
In Family Probate disputes the Law Reform
Commission in their report (Alternative Dispute
Resolution LRC [CP 50-2008]) states “It
is clear and unfortunate that grief associated
with the death of a loved one creates tensions
and legal proceedings may follow from misdirected
anger over the death. Death may cause
dormant family disputes to re-surface and a
dispute supposedly over property may in fact
be a dispute over family relationships...”: The
Commission considers that there are good
grounds for suggesting that an application
under Section 117 of the Succession Act 1965
should be brought before a Judge very early in
the proceedings so that the availability of mediation
is made known to the parties. For that
reason, the Commission has previously concluded
that a Court should adjourn proceedings
where appropriate to allow parties to a
dispute arising under Section 117 of the Succession
Act 1965 to consider mediation”.
The EU ADR directive
On the 21st May 2008 the EU published the
Directive on certain aspects of mediation in
Civil and Commercial matters. Member states
have 36 months to put the Directive into effect.
The Directive has five main provisions:-
❯ Training Mediators and the development
and adherence to a voluntary code of conduct
by the mediators.
❯ The right for judges to invite parties to mediate.
❯ Member states are obliged to set up a mechanism
that ensures mediation settlement agreements
can be enforceable at the parties’ request.
❯ Mediation confidentiality must be assured
and mediators cannot be compelled to give
evidence; and
❯ Limitation and prescriptions periods to be
suspended while parties mediate.
The Directive is expressed to be applicable to
cross border disputes which are defined in Article
2 but it specifically notes that this legislation does
not prevent the member states internally applying
it provided it does not prevent the parties from
exercising the right of access to the courts.
Law reform commission consulation
paper on alternative dispute resolution
The main recommendations in the Consultation
paper are:-
❯ There should be a general statutory framework
that defines clearly what is meant by
mediation (mainly facilitating agreement)
and conciliation (facilitating agreement and
sometimes also advising the parties about
an agreed resolution).
❯ Mediation Conciliation should be seen as
very different from litigation but should also
be considered as part of a fully integrated
civil justice system that includes litigation.
Each process plays its appropriate role in
meeting the needs of the parties involved
and the fundamental principle of justice.
❯ The key principles of mediation and conciliation
should be set out, including their
voluntary nature, the ability to the parties to
control the process, the need for confidentiality,
and the need for transparency and
quality control of the process.
❯ A Court should be able to enforce an agreement
made at mediation or conciliation;
❯ The training and accreditation of mediators
should be based on agreed international
standards building on existing accreditation
structures already in place in Ireland.
What punishment will the court impose
if parties refuse to mediate?
The generally accepted court sanction for a
party unreasonably refusing to mediate is a
costs sanction. A costs sanction has been imposed
by the Commercial Court in Ireland
and in a substantial number of cases in the
UK. In Halsey – v – Milton Keynes, General
NHS Trust and Steel – v – Joy & Halliday
(EWCA Civ 576) it was held that the courts
could impose a cost sanction against a party
who had unreasonably refused to mediate.
This case set out the principles to be applied.
❯ The nature of the dispute – It was said
some disputes may not be inherently capable
of mediation, such as fraud, the need for
a binding precedent, a point of law or injunctive
relief.
❯ The merits of the case – If a party reasonably
believes that he has a strong case that is
relevant to the question whether he has
acted reasonably in refusing ADR. An unreasonable
belief that a case is watertight is
no justification for refusing mediation.
❯ Other settlement methods have been attempted.
❯ The costs of mediation would be disproportionately
high.
❯ Delay – If mediation is suggested late in the
day, acceptance of it may have the effect of
delaying the trial of the action.
❯ Whether the mediation had a reasonable
prospect of success, the Court of Appeal
accepted that this test will sometimes be
difficult to apply in practice.
What happens if a party
delays in mediation?
If a party unreasonably delays in agreeing to a
mediation that could be reflected in a costs
order. Against that it has to be balanced that
the court will not usually go into the quality of
the mediation. There is some case law in the
UK to state that a party who is totally unrealistic
and unreasonable may (where privilege is
waived) give rise to a costs sanction. However
it is unlikely in an Irish Court that a mediator
would be called to give evidence and the Law
Reform Commission has specifically stated it
is not advisable to look at the quality of the
mediation. Mediation is about reducing legal
costs rather than creating litigation.
Conclusion
There is an increasing intolerance by the judiciary
and the public in general with the goosestepping
adversarial approach to litigation with
resulting costs and time delays. Increasingly parties
themselves are looking to ADR and wish to
explore an effective process. In pursuing a settlement,
meditation generally improves communication
not just between parties but also between
the lawyer and the client. Quite often in litigation
the perception is that lawyers are not listening to
the client. In traditional negotiations, posturing is
often engaged in to maximize negotiating positions.
Mediation provides an environment in
which parties can identify and explore their particular
interests; test solutions and provide a realistic
assessment of their case. In Ireland in
particular where 95% of cases ultimately settle it
also becomes a matter of good ethics to suggest
mediation in appropriate cases to clients. •
John O’Connor is a past President of the DSBA
and an accredited Mediator. He is the Principal
of John O’Connor Solicitors, Ballsbridge.
parchment | Summer 2009 21

When there is not
enough to go
around
Unfortunately, due to the
present economic climate,
it is becoming increasingly
common that while there
are sufficient assets to
discharge debts and liabilities
there may not be sufficient
assets to meet bequests.
Anne Stephenson examines
cases where special care
should be taken when
distributing the estate.
22 www.dsba.ie

probate
Indeed, it is very important long before the
distribution, to establish the position as
accurately as possible, which will assist to
manage the beneficiaries’ expectations
from the outset, which avoids or at least
lessens disappointment later.
Ideally, this should never arise if the testator
was advised, at will drafting stage of the
benefit of bequeathing a proportion of her
estate, as opposed to a specific amount, to
the beneficiaries.
If however, you are administering an estate
where this advice was not followed pre-death
and having discharged all of the debts and liabilities,
following the order for the payment of
same as set out at Part II of the First Schedule
to the Succession Act i.e. the order of application
of assets where the estate is solvent and
there are not sufficient assets to pay all the bequests
then the rule that legacies within the
same class will abate proportionately must be
applied. See Samson –v- Devereaux (1996) 1
ICLMD 75; [1996] 3 ICLMD 75.
In short, where the legacies within a particular
class must be resorted to for the payment
of debts/pecuniary legacies or indeed
the spouse’s legal right share but not all of
the assets within that particular class are required,
the question arises how is the apportionment
calculated.
There is a simple mathematical formula
that is used to do so as follows:
Funds available
x
Total amount of
pecuniary legacies
Legacy bequeathed
The best method of illustrating this calculation
is through examples:
An example of Abatement
re pecuniary legacies
The testatrix dies leaving ten pecuniary legacies
of €20,000. Unfortunately, there are not
enough funds in the estate to do so having
discharged the debts and liabilities of her estate.
The amount available for payment of the
pecuniary legacies is only €90,000. Therefore,
each beneficiary will receive €9,000 each.
€90,000.00
x €20,000.00 = €9,000.00
€200,000.00
Where the bequests are not pecuniary legacies
but specific legacies it is slightly more complex.
An example of abatement
re specific legacies
The testatrix dies and bequeaths three specific
properties amounting to €1 million. She lived
well and spent her last years in an expensive
nursing home. There is not sufficient in the
residue to pay all her debts and liabilities and
having checked Part II of the First Schedule
of the Succession Act 1965 it is established
that recourse must be made to the assets
specifically bequeathed. There is still an outstanding
amount in the sum of €200,000
needed to discharge the remaining debts and
liabilities/Legal Right Share.
The problem here, unlike in the first example
is that you cannot simply give less of a
property to each beneficiary. Thus, each beneficiary
must pay a share of the outstanding
€200,000 rateably in proportion to the value
of the specific bequest to be received by him.
The first specific beneficiary is entitled to
property valued at €200,000 and thus is entitled
to 20% of the specific legacies and devises
and must pay 20% of the outstanding debts
i.e. €40,000 prior to the asset being vested in
him. This gives him a “net” asset of €160,000,
which will be the value of the bequest for
CAT purposes.
The legal fees will abate
with other legacies
because a charging
clause is regarded as
a legacy.
The second specific beneficiary is entitled
to property valued at €350,000 and thus is entitled
to 35% of the specific legacies and devises
and thus must pay 35% of the
outstanding debts i.e. €70,000 prior to the
asset being vested in him. This gives him a
“net” asset of €280,000, which will be the
value of the bequest for CAT purposes.
The third specific legatee is entitled to
property valued at €450,000 and thus is entitled
to 45% of the specific legacies and devises
and thus must pay 45% of the
outstanding debt/legal right share i.e.
€90,000 prior to the asset being vested in
him. This gives him a “net” asset of
€360,000, which will be the value of the devise
for CAT purposes.
In short, where immoveable property is to
be vested it is important that the relevant portion
of the outstanding debt is paid by the
beneficiary prior to the immoveable asset
being vested in the beneficiary.
Charging clauses and abatement
It is important to realise, that where in an estate
there is a solicitor/executor albeit and
there is a full charging clause and where there
are insufficient funds to pay bequests in full,
then the legal fees will abate with other legacies
because a charging clause is regarded as a
legacy, unless the charging clause is so drafted
to cover such an eventuality.
Therefore, if there is any doubt or possibility
of the sufficiency of funds to discharge
legacies, it should be provided in the will that
the charging clause is to take priority over all
other legacies and bequests i.e. be a preferential
debt of the estate assuming of course that
you are so instructed to do so by your client.
In these recessional times where the value
of the estate is likely to have substantially decreased
from the date of drafting of the will by
the time of the testator’s death, let alone the
extraction of the grant and the distribution of
the estate and thus there may not be sufficient
funds to meet all of the legacies, it is especially
important to consider the position as early as
possible in the administration and ultimately
to distribute the assets correctly. •
Anne Stephenson is the Principal of Stephenson
Solicitors in Blackrock.
parchment | Summer 2009 23

Recent updates
in drunken
driving law
Grainne Whelan examines the drunk driving
laws and provides an insight into how the
Courts are interpreting the legislation.
Drink driving cases are probably
the most strongly contested area
of criminal law in the District
Court. Considerable case law
has developed over the years,
much of which has come about through the
innovative work of the defence lawyer in raising
technical defences. Predictably the
Oireachtas and Superior Courts have attempted
to close off as many of these technical
defences as possible. However, with each
new change in the law, new defences arise.
The first thing any prudent practitioner
should do when facing the prospect of dealing
with a drink driving case is to familiarise
yourself with the main text on the topic,
“Drunken Driving and the Law”, by Mark
de Blacam (3rd Edition). There is no doubt
that due to the many changes in recent years
in this area of law that a 4th Edition is required
and many of us look forward to same.
In the meantime I hope that the following
will assist on some of the most recent developments.
Mandatory alcohol checkpoints under
section 4 road traffic act 2006
Section 4 of the Road Traffic Act 2006 was a
complete departure from the preconditions
as set out under Section 12 of the 1994 RTA
as amended by Section 10 of the 2002 RTA.
In the latter instance the power of a Garda to
stop an accused or to conduct checkpoints
had been more limited in scope. The circumstances
were that a road side breath test
There is no doubt that
due to the many changes
in recent years in this
area of law that a 4th
Edition is required and
many of us look forward
to same.
could only be administered when a vehicle
was involved in an accident, or the Garda
was of the opinion a person had consumed
intoxicating liquor, or the Garda was of the
opinion a person was committing or had
committed an offence under the Road Traffic
Acts, 1961 to 2002 (other than sections 49,
50 and 51 of the Principal Act and sections
12 to 15).
Section 4 authorises the establishment of a
checkpoint or checkpoints permitting Gardai
to require a breath sample of a person or for a
person to accompany them to a place at or in
the vicinity of the checkpoint to provide a
breath sample. The authorisation of a Garda
not below the rank of Inspector is required for
the establishment of a checkpoint under Section
4. As such, the authorisation has to be regarded
as a necessary proof in a case
involving a Section 4 checkpoint (Mary Weir v
DPP 2008 [IEHC] 268).
Since the introduction of this provision, a
number of issues have arisen such as the failure
of the prosecution to submit the authorisation
into evidence or the authorisation itself
containing incorrect times, locations or dates.
Section 4(9) however does permit a copy of
the authorisation to be admitted in evidence
and appears to suggest that the signature of
the person authorising the checkpoint, without
proof of their authority, is still proof until
the contrary is shown. (Even without the original
in Court, an application to admit a copy
would be permissible under Section 30 of the
Criminal Evidence Act 1992 in any event.)
24 www.dsba.ie

drink driving
Section 1 of the road traffic
and transport act 2006:
This section has amended a number of sections
in the 1994 RTA.
The new Section 13(1) expands the provisions
under which a person arrested can be required
to provide a sample. It is essential that a
person is arrested under one of the following
provisions before a requirement to provide a
sample is made of them: Section 49(8), Section
50(10), Section 53(6), Section 106(3A) and
Section 112(6) of the Principal Act, Section
12(4) of the Road Traffic Act 1994, and Section
4(7) of the Road Traffic Act 2006.
The deletion of “and a member of the Garda
Síochána is of opinion that the person has consumed
an intoxicant” within Section 13(1)
means that the Garda making a requirement
under this section, no longer needs to have
formed an opinion that an arrested person has
consumed an intoxicant. The only pre-condition
is that they have been arrested under one
of the seven provisions above.
This section also amends all previous references
in the 1994 Act to the duties of the doctor
and now permits a nurse to perform those
duties. Gardai can now seek the attendance of
a doctor or a nurse to take a sample pursuant
to Section 13(1)(b) and comply with the relevant
provisions under Ss. 14, 15, 16, 18, 21,
23, and 24.This addition of a nurse is important
in the context of the prosecution’s duty to
justify any detention of an accused and any
delay arising. See O’Neill v McCartan & DPP
[2007 IEHC 83].
There remains a duty on the prosecution to
prove that any delay that occurred during detention
was necessary and justified. If an accused
remains in custody for a substantial
period of time because of a delay involving the
arrival of a doctor and no efforts are made to
avail of the expanded provisions regarding a
nurse, then depending on the facts of the case,
the accused detention may lapse into unlawful
custody.
The section 17 certificate:
This is the printout from the intoxilyser machine
that establishes the concentration of alcohol
in the breath. It is an essential proof in
prosecutions under Section 49(4) and Section
50(4) of the Road Traffic Act.
Colm Fitzpatrick v DPP [2007] IEHC 383
In this case, the prosecution closed their case
but failed to hand into evidence the Section 17
certificate indicating the level of alcohol in the
breath of the accused.
It was submitted on behalf of the accused
that the Section 17 cert was an essential proof.
The District Judge rejected this argument and
convicted. The accused appealed by way of
case stated to the High Court. O’Neill J. held
that the judge erred in law and allowed the appeal.
He held that the Section 17 certificate was
an essential proof in a prosecution under either
Section 49(4) or 50(4) of the RTA.
However, he went on to comment that the
facts recited on a Section 17 certificate could
be proved by way of oral evidence. Also if the
certificate is unavailable, the prosecution can
seek to admit a copy and rely upon it subject to
there being evidence before the court that the
original is “lost or destroyed or for some other
reason, it is physically or illegally impossible to
produce the original.”
DPP v Lloyd Freeman [2008/1438 SS]
In this case the accused was acquitted in the
District Court where the District Judge held
that the Section 17 certificate, which the prosecution
sought to admit into evidence, was not a
“duly completed” certificate for the purposes
of Section 21 1994 RTA. The District Judge
found as a fact that the accused had signed the
certificate prior to the Garda doing so. He held
that the Section 17 certificate was inadmissible
and dismissed the case. The State appealed by
way of case stated to the High Court.
MacMenamin J. held that the District Judge
Updated periods of disqualification under the 2006 act:
Section 49 (2,3,4) Drunk Driving and Section 50 (2,3,4) Drunk in Charge:
Breath Alcohol Concentration
did not err in law. He stated that the statutory
provisions (Ss. 17 and 21 RTA 1994 and the
Section 17 Regulations contained within SI 326
of 1999) envisaged a procedure whereby the accused
was presented with a duly completed certificate,
ie. one containing the Garda’s signature.
Written with the kind assistance of Martin
Dully B.L. and David Staunton B.L. •
Gráinne Whelan is a partner in Whelan Murtagh
Solicitors
Mandatory Period of Disqualification
1st Conviction
35 - 44 Mcg 1 year 2 years
45 - 66 Mcg 2 years 4 years
67 Mcg or over 3 years 6 years
Blood Alcohol Concentration
81 mg - 100 mg 1 year 2 years
101 mg - 150 mg 2 years 4 years
151 mg or over 3 years 6 years
Urine Alcohol Concentration
107 - 135 mg 1 year 2 years
136 - 200 mg 2 years 4 years
201 mg or over 3 years 6 years
Other Offences in relation to Disqualification
❯ Section 13, 14, 15 of the
1994 Act
❯ Section 49(1), 50(1), 53 (on
indictment) and 106 of the
1961 Act
❯ Section 138(3) Railway Safety
Act 2005 (on indictment)
4 years 6 years
4 years 6 years
2nd Conviction
(within 4 years)
4 years 6 years
parchment | Summer 2009 25

New immigration
bill – a cause for
concern
As the Immigration, Residence and Protection Bill 2008 passes through the Oireachtas, Hilkka Becker
highlights the flaws in the Bill and sets out the case for some important amendments – before it is too late.
The Immigration, Residence and Protection
Bill 2008 has now passed
Committee Stage and is expected to
be re-introduced to the Dáil at Report
Stage in the near future. The
Bill represents an ideal opportunity to comprehensively
reform outdated and inadequate
immigration legislation. However, while some
aspects of the Bill have been welcomed, the
Government has so far fallen short of its stated
aim of setting out “in a clear and integrated approach
the whole process for foreign nationals
coming to the State, staying here and, when
necessary, being required to leave” (Programme
for Government 2007-2012).
In the debate on the Bill at Committee Stage,
the Government has shown little willingness to
set out in primary legislation who gets to be in
Ireland, on what conditions and with what
rights, something that is a prerequisite for the
fair treatment of immigrants and their family
members in legislation and practice.
The Immigration, Residence and Protection
Bill 2008 contains many provisions of concern
and a number of key omissions. These include
the failure to set out clear immigration rules in
primary legislation, the introduction of summary
removal, the absence of an independent
appeals mechanism for the review of immigration
decisions, the limitation of the right to
marry, the lack of provision of a right to family
reunification, the failure to introduce a
long-term residence permit to provide real
permanence, insufficient protection for victims
of trafficking, the introduction of visa
fees as a deterrent, excessive ministerial discretion,
the further limitation of access to justice
for immigrants, and the fact that
immigration and protection issues are combined
in the same piece of legislation.
26 www.dsba.ie

immigration law
Summary removal
It is of utmost concern that the Immigration, Residence
and Protection Bill, 2008 – as currently
drafted – allows for the removal without notice of
any person who is unlawfully in the State.
Section 4(5) provides a significant new
power that is being vested in the State and effectively
abolishes the ‘Section 3 process’ established
in the Immigration Act, 1999 as
amended (Section 4(5) provides that “a foreign
national need not be given notice of a
proposal to remove him or her from the State
under subsection (4)(b)). Currently, a person
who has entered and is unlawfully present in
Ireland can be removed from the State on the
basis of a deportation order. However, before
a deportation order is made, notice of the
Minister’s intention to issue such order must
be given and the person concerned is given 15
working days to make submissions as to why
he or she should not be removed from the
State. Matters to be considered in advance of
the making of a deportation order include
family circumstances, duration of residence in
Ireland and humanitarian considerations.
In fact, the Supreme Court in Bode & ors v.
Minister for Justice, Equality & Law Reform
held as recently as December 2007 that
“in making a deportation order the Minister
must comply with Section 3 of the Immigration
Act, 1999 as amended. The Minister is required
to have regard to a wide range of matters in
Section 3(6) of the Immigration Act, 1999 (…).
Thus, bearing in mind the case law of this
Court, the Minister is required to consider in
this context Constitutional and Convention
rights of the applicants. The Section 3 process is
sufficiently wide ranging for the Minister to exercise
his duty to consider Constitutional or
Convention rights of the applicants”.
The repeal of Section 3 of the Immigration
Act, 1999 without an equivalent replacement
in the Immigration, Residence and Protection
Bill, 2008 is of grave concern to those working
with immigrants and their family members in
Ireland as it may lead to the summary removal
of vulnerable immigrants who may have become
unlawfully present in the State through
no fault of their own.
There must be an avenue to deal with and
provide for persons in exceptional circumstances.
The Bill, as currently drafted, provides
the Minister, and officers acting on his
behalf, with no flexibility to deal with persons
whose residence permits are non-renewable,
or who were not able to apply for a modification
of their existing residence permit on
grounds set out in Section 33 of the Bill, or
who did not manage to apply for the renewal
of their permit within the time periods specified
in Section 32(4) and (5). Once classified
as ‘unlawfully present’ a foreign national will
no longer have any possibility of regularising
his or her status in the State under the Bill.
In order to be constitutional and in line with
international human rights law, the Bill needs to
make clear that discretion can be exercised to
take into account exceptional cases. For example,
if a woman, resident in Ireland on the basis
of a marriage to an Irish national, suffers domestic
violence and no longer lives in the same
household with her husband, she would need to
apply for the modification of her residence permit
in order to remain in the State. Where she
has not done so within three months from the
expiry of her current permit, the legislation as
drafted does not allow for the renewal of her
permit even if the reason for her failure to
apply are threats made by her husband to have
her deported if she went near the Gardaí.
It is of utmost concern
that the Immigration,
Residence and Protection
Bill, 2008 – as currently
drafted – allows for the
removal without notice
of any person who is
unlawfully in the State.
Section 4(5), 54(1) and 55(1) of the Bill,
which allow for the immediate arrest, detention
and removal of persons who are unlawfully
present in the State, seem to be in direct
conflict with the more recent Supreme Court
judgments in the cases of Oguekwe v. Minister
for Justice, Equality & Law Reform and
Dimbo v. Minister for Justice, Equality & Law
Reform. This is because, under the Bill as
currently drafted, no consideration of constitutional
and Convention rights is required
prior to the arrest, detention and removal of a
person who, to the satisfaction of an immigration
officer or a member of the Garda
Síochána, is ‘unlawfully present in the State’.
There is a long line of case-law coming
from the European Court of Human Rights
which confirms that the acceptable margin of
appreciation of Member States must include
an assessment of the impact of their decisions
and actions inter alia on the private and family
life of the persons affected by those decisions.
Most recently, the Court held in the case of
Nolan and K. v. Russia (Judgement of 10th
February 2009) that
“the ten months period of physical separation
between K. and his father had directly resulted
from a combination of Mr Nolan’s
expulsion from Russia by the authorities and
their failure to notify him of that decision”.
Consequently the Court found that there
had been a violation of Article 8 ECHR, on
account of the Government’s failure to assess
the impact of their decisions on the welfare of
the applicant’s son.
Furthermore, Section 4(8) of the Bill provides
that a foreign national shall not be entitled
to derive any benefit from any period of
unlawful presence in the State. This clearly is a
departure from Section 3(6) of the Immigration
Act 1999, where the duration of residence
in the State of the person was a factor to be
taken into account by the Minister in granting
leave to remain. The new provision has the potential
to breach Article 8 of the ECHR: In the
case of Sisojeva v. Latvia, for example, the European
Court of Human Rights held that “taking
all the circumstances into account, and in
particular the long period of insecurity and
legal uncertainty which the applicants have undergone
in Latvia, the Court considers that the
Latvian authorities exceeded the margin of appreciation
enjoyed by the Contracting States in
this sphere, and did not strike a fair balance between
the legitimate aim of preventing disorder
and the applicants' interest in having their
rights under Article 8 protected”.
Conclusion
The UN Human Rights Committee expressed
its concern about these aspects of the Bill during
Ireland’s examination under the International
Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR),
which concluded in July 2008. In its concluding
observations, the Committee called on the Government
to “amend the Immigration, Residence
and Protection Bill 2008 to outlaw summary removal
which is incompatible with the Covenant”
and to “ensure that permission to remain in the
State party is not dependent on the cooperation
of victims in the prosecution of alleged traffickers”.
It is hoped that these criticisms will provide
the necessary impetus for reform. •
Hilkka Becker is a senior solicitor with the Immigrant
Council of Ireland – Independent Law Centre
(ICI) which is an independent, non-governmental
organisation with charitable status established to
promote the rights of immigrants and their family
members through information, legal services, advocacy,
lobbying, research and training.
parchment | Summer 2009 27

news
YDS Seminar – making a living out of law
The YDS was delighted to host a free seminar
for its members in the Radisson Hotel,
Golden Lane. The seminar was provided for
by the DSBA to assist its younger members
who have been hit hard in recent times.
Places at the seminar, which was held on the
Saturday morning of the 9th May last, were
dealt on a first come first serve basis and was
fully prescribed within days. The seminar
provided an insight into the current employment
trends in Dublin as well as put forward
the results of a recent survey about the effects
of the current economic climate on
younger solicitors in the profession.
Barry Reynolds from Arthur Cox Solicitors
spoke in relation to “Employment Entitlements
and Redundancies.” Barry provided an
excellent synopsis of the current redundancy
legislation in Ireland. Additionally, he provided
details of the implications of redundancies,
employers’ obligations, and alternatives
to redundancies.
The second speaker, John Hogan from
Leman Solicitors, provided a very informative
presentation for all Solicitors considering setting
up a new practice. Drawing on a wealth
of personal experience, John provided an
overview of what Solicitors should consider
prior to starting up either on their own or as
part of a new partnership. John provided
many helpful hints and ideas as to the best
(and often most economical) way to progress
a new business while ensuring the highest
standards are maintained for clients.
The third speaker, David Byrnes from
Brightwater Recruitment provided a detailed
summary of the current recruitment trends
in Ireland and abroad. David outlined the
potential career opportunities that exist In-
House in Ireland and in the areas of banking
and funds abroad.
The final speaker was Mark Pollock. The
YDS was thrilled to have this world-class motivational
speaker at its seminar. When Mark
went blind at the age of 22, he had two
choices: give up or get living. He chose to live
life to the full and his is a story of triumph
over adversity. Just like millions all over the
world facing unexpected challenges, change
and uncertainty have become Mark’s companions.
Mark spoke with such honesty and
frankness of his experiences so much so that
all in attendance left inspired and uplifted.
We would like to say a special thank you to
all speakers who gave so freely of their precious
Saturday morning. In particular we
would like to thank all the attendees and those
who participated in the many discussions that
YDS Committee
Members 2009
Eamonn Shannon
eamonn.shannon@gmail.com
Gráinne Whelan
grainnewhelansolicitor@gmail.com
Isobel McCarthy
mccarthy.isobel@gmail.com
Conor Canavan
conor.canavan@gmail.com
Danielle Conaghan
Danielle.Conaghan@arthurcox.com
Deborah Kearney
dkearney@lemansolicitors.com
Barry Rafferty
brafferty@bjrsolicitors.com
were raised throughout the morning.
The YDS is indebted to the DSBA and its
Council for supporting and financing this
seminar. The DSBA have offered their continued
support to the younger members in our
profession with particular emphasises towards
such members who have found themselves
unwaged or otherwise in need of assistance.
The YDS Committee
Leinster v Leicester 23rd May 2009
Whilst many of our colleagues and friends
headed for Edinburgh on the 23rd May last
the YDS Committee along with some help
from their friends organised a big screen
viewing of the Heineken Cup Rugby final in
the Round Hall of the Mansion House.
Up to 160 members arrived with nothing
but a deep sense of excitement and
hope that an historic victory was in the
making. The decorations were up, compliments
of the Leinster Supporters
Club (kindly arranged by our DSBA
President Kevin O’Higgins), the big
screen in place and enough Bulmers
Pear to last the night.
With doors open just after 4pm, the
room filled up very quickly and everyone
certainly took advantage of the free
Bulmers on offer. There were a few noticeable
Munster supporters in the
room but fine Leinster supporters
being what they are took it all in their
stride. Following a brief introduction from
DSBA Vice- President John O’Malley – the
party started. The atmosphere during the
first half was electric but this was soon followed
by an ecstatic second half, when almost
all were on their feet for the last ten
minutes willing their team to win.
Indeed for the last ten minutes the nerves
were certainly out and the full time whistle
couldn’t come soon enough. When it did the
party started!! The celebrations lasted into
the night and all had great fun.
We would like to thank our sponsors,
namely the DSBA and Bulmers. Most importantly
we thank all those who attended
and made the night
memorable.
The night certainly paved the way
for future YDS arranged sporting
events and we look forward to seeing
you all again soon.
For the photo evidence from this
event see page 44!
DSBA President Kevin O’Higgins and
lifetime Leinster rugby supporter
proudly tries to lift the Heineken Cup
upon its triumphant return to Dublin.
28 www.dsba.ie

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DSBA Solicitors
League Cup
The DSBA is delighted to announce the
commencement of this year’s Dublin Solicitors
Bar Association Solicitor’s Soccer
League. As many of you will be aware the
Solicitor’s League has been run on an informal
basis for many years and it is with great
pleasure that the DSBA has agreed to take
over the running of this year’s competition.
The opening game of the season commenced
on the 2nd June with Eversheds
O’Donnell Sweeney managing to get the
better of Dillon Eustace. This year promises
to be yet another thrilling and exciting
league with 17 teams competing for a coveted
place in the final which is due to take
place on Friday the 28th August.
For all information on this years fixtures,
results and tables please log on to the
DSBA website www.dsba.ie
GROUP A
McCann Fitzgerald
Courts Services
Matheson Ormsby
Prentice
Legal Aid Board
LK Shields
Small Fry
A&L Goodbody
Flynn O'Driscoll
Mason Hayes &
Currran
GROUP B
Divided United
Dillon Eustace
Lavelle Coleman
Eversheds O'Donnell
Sweeney
BCM Hanby Wallace
Arthur Cox
William Fry
Classy Birds
WEEK 6
WEEK 7
WEEK 8
WEEK 9
WEEK 10
WEEK 11
WEEK 12
WEEK 13
Monday 6th July 6.45 B Flynn O'Driscoll v Mason Hayes & Curran
8 B Dillon Eustace v Lavelle Coleman
Tuesday 7th July 6.45 A Small Fry v LK Shields
8 A McCann Fitzgerald v A&L Goodbody
Thursday 9th July 6.45 A Legal Aid Board v Matheson Ormsby Prentice
8 A Classy Birds v Divided United
Monday 13th July 6.45 B Arthur Cox v Eversheds O'Donnell Sweeney
8 B Flynn O'Driscoll v Legal Aid Board
Tuesday 14th July 6.45 A Small Fry v Matheson Ormsby Prentice
8 A Divided United v BCM Hanby Wallace
Thursday 16th July 6.45 B Courts Services v McCann Fitzgerald
8 A Lavelle Coleman v William Fry
Monday 20th July 6.45 A Eversheds O'Donnell Sweeney v Lavelle Coleman
8 B A&L Goodbody v Mason Hayes & Curran
Tuesday 21st July 6.45 A Legal Aid Board v Small Fry
8 A Divided United v Dillon Eustace
Thursday 23rd July 6.45 B Classy Birds v William Fry
8 B McCann Fitzgerald v LK Shields
Monday 27th July 6.45 B Small Fry v McCann Fitzgerald
8 A Matheson Ormbsy Prentice v Mason Hayes & Curran
Tuesday 28th July 6.45 A Courts Services v Flynn O'Driscoll
8 B BCM Hanby Wallace v Arthur Cox
Thursday 30th July 6.45 B Willaim Fry v Eversheds O'Donnell Sweeney
8 A Lavelle Coleman v Classy Birds
Tuesday 4th Aug 6.45 B Flynn O'Driscoll v Matheson Ormsby Prentice
8 A LK Shields v Legal Aid Board
Thursday 6th Aug 6.45 A Arthur Cox v Dillon Eustace
8 A A&L Goodbody v Courts Services
Monday 10th Aug 6.45 B Dillon Eustace v Willaim Fry
8 B Divided United v Arthur Cox
Tuesday 11th Aug 6.45 A Small Fry v A&L Goodbody
8 A LK Shields v Flynn O'Driscoll
Thursday 13th Aug 6.45 A Matheson Ormsby Prentice v McCann Fitzgerald
8 B Eversheds O'Donnell Sweeney v Classy Birds
Monday 17th Aug 6.45 A Mason Hayes & Curran v Courts Services
8 B BCM Hanby Wallace v Lavelle Coleman
Tuesday 18th Aug 6.45 Q/Finals 1
8 Q/Finals 2
Wednesday 19th Aug 6.45 Q/Finals 3
8 Q/Finals 4
Monday 24th Aug 6.45 S/Finals 1
Tuesday 25th Aug 6.45 S/Finals 2
Friday 28th Aug 6.45 FINAL
FLAC celebrates its 40th birthday
The Free Legal Aid Centres (FLAC) celebrated
40 years of providing legal representation,
advice and information to the public in
April 2009. FLAC is known to most solicitors
and although it was set up by four well
known barristers – David Byrne, Denis Mc-
Cullough, Vivienne Lavin and Ian Candy in
April 1969, it has over the years been greatly
supported by solicitors who volunteer in its
advice centres all around the country.
One of the important sources of FLAC’s
funding is the donations given by solicitors
when they pay their Annual Practicing Certificate
subscriptions to the Law Society. The
Director General of FLAC, Noeleen Blackwell
is well known to most Dublin Practitioners
as a long time Human Rights Advocate
who practiced herself as a sole practitioner
before joining FLAC. She now heads up an
organisation, which could honestly claim to
provide legal advice to more citizens of Ireland
than any other single body or firm of
solicitors. The motivating factor behind
FLAC has always been to increase access to
justice for members of the public and over
the last 40 years some of the cases which
they have championed have included the
Airey Case which was taken to Europe and
which led the Government setting up the
system of Civil Legal Aid now run by the
Legal Aid Board and its Law Centres. In addition
to administering its advice centres
FLAC also campaigns on a wide range of social
issues with a particular emphasises on
Social Welfare, but also on Credit and Debt
Law, Emigration Law and Equality.
Full details of how to contribute to FLAC
or to volunteer some of your time can be
seen on its website www.flac.ie and the
Parchment would like to wish FLAC as
much success in its next 40 years as it has
had in the previous forty years.
In a recent letter to the Parchment, Dublin
solicitor Gavin Carty recalled the involvement
of his uncle John Carty, solicitor, in the very
early days of FLAC of which John described
as “the gentle revolution leading to the expansion
of Legal Aid and access to Justice.’ Both
John and Gavin’s father Hugh were involved in
a significant number of pro bono cases from
the early days with Threshold, up until the well
known Gray case a number of years ago.
Keith Walsh
30 www.dsba.ie

Recession hitting
solicitors hard
By John Geary
The numbers of unemployed solicitors is
growing by the day. Figures exclusively obtained
by The Parchment from the Department
of Social and Family Affairs under a
Freedom of Information request shows a massive
jump in the number of legal professionals
out of work.
It is important to note that these figures released
by the Department of Social and Family
Affairs do not provide a breakdown between
Solicitors or Barristers and also include a portion
of legal academic staff and legal executives/paralegals
that are out of work. However,
as Barristers are self-employed, it is unlikely
that they make up very many of the figures
provided. This means that conservatively and
without doubt, there are well over one thousand
unemployed solicitors in Ireland and this
figure is rising. The most recent figure of
1,347 does not include solicitors who have left
Unemployed legal professionals 1.1.2007-29.5.2009
1300
1200
1100
1000
900
800
700
600
500
600
500
400
300
200
the country in search of work or indeed solicitors
who have set up on their own.
It is surprising to note that of the 1,347 unemployed
– an astonishing 71% are female
legal professionals, while unemployed males
make up the balance of 29%.
“Conservatively and
without doubt, there
are well over 1,000
unemployed solicitors
in Ireland and this
figure is rising.”
1.1.2007 1. 7.2007 1.1.2008 31.5.2008 26.9.2008 28.11.2008 27.3.2009 29.5.2009
289 341 359 418 588 647 1104 1,347
DSBA
honours
the class
of 1959
news
A lunch to honour the Dublin
Solicitors who are 50 years in
practice was hosted by the
DSBA on June 19th at The
Royal St. George Yacht Club,
Dun Laoghaire.
The group of solicitors, who
were admitted to the Roll of Solicitors
in 1959 gathered following
an invitation from the
DSBA to commemorate this
great milestone. Photos and
more information on the event
will appear in the autumn edition
of the Parchment.
Canadian
lawyers set
to descend
on Dublin
The Canadian Bar Association is
this year holding its annual conference
in Dublin between 16th
and 18th August. It is expected
that a large contingent of Canadian
Lawyers will travel over. On
their itinerary whilst in Dublin is
an opening ceremony to the
Conference at the National Concert
Hall, a gala night at Dublin
Castle and a night out at the
Guinness Storehouse.
On Saturday 15th August a reception
is scheduled for the
Mansion House and John D. V.
Hoyles, CEO of the Canadian
Bar Association sends out an invite
to all Dublin Solicitors who
would like to connect with our
Canadian colleagues to come
along. More information from
Maura at the DSBA.
parchment | Summer 2009 31

Criminal
Prosecutions
under the
Planning and
Development
Acts
2000 – 2006
by John J. Morrissey
This book, in
detailing and
criminal aspects
of planning
law,
examines the
law in a clear,
concise manner,
which will
appeal to its
readers. Its author,
barrister
John Morrissey,
is uniquely
positioned to analyse the area as a former
town planner, and his wealth of experience is
evident in this book.
This book is the first publication of its kind
to focus primarily on the criminal aspects of
planning law under the Planning and Development
Acts, since their commencement in
2000 and will be of importance, not just to
legal practitioners, but also to developers and
all involved in the planning arena.
The author sets out clearly the offences
under the Acts, and the penalties, which may
be imposed. Morrissey analyses all elements
of the criminal prosecution of planning offences,
including matters pertaining to evidence,
conduct of the prosecution and the
burden, and standards, of proof.
Probably the most common offence currently
encountered by practitioners is that of
unauthorised development, which is examined
in depth in this book, along with a very useful
and detailed summary of the law surrounding
non-compliance with enforcement notices. An
interesting concept explored in the book is
how the Proceeds of Crime Act 1996 could be
applied to planning offences, and the likelihood
of this arising.
The book provides an insightful overview
of the criminal aspects of planning law and
will be a welcome addition to the libraries of
all interested in, and practising in the field of,
planning law.
Reviewed by Liz Roche, Mason Hayes+Curran
Civil
Procedure
In The Circuit
Court By Karl
Dowling B.L.
Round Hall,
Hardback €275.00,
December 2008
Civil Procedure
in the
Circuit Court
is not a book
that you would
immediately
rush out to
buy. However
when you are
forced to read
it for the purposes
of a
book review, it
takes on an altogether
more useful and practical nature.
My incursions to the Circuit Court are mainly
in the context of Civil Proceedings and Family
Law and I was pleasantly surprised by the
amount of detail and practical assistance,
which can be obtained by reading Civil Procedure
in the Circuit Court in association with the
Circuit Court rules.
Mr. Dowling, who is a barrister of a number
of years and started his legal career in
Pearts, provides the most comprehensive
guide to litigating in the Circuit Court. An
example of the practical approach he takes is
in relation to the commencement of proceedings,
he deals with the common misconception
that time did not stop running under the
Statue of Limitations for Circuit Court matters
until the service of the Civil Bill. Mr.
Dowling is clear, quoting the 2002 Court and
Court Officers Act which repeals the relevant
section Courts Act 1964), that the issuing of
the Civil Bill in the Circuit Court Office stops
the clock from running in relation to the
statute of limitations. He also deals comprehensively
with the changes brought in by the
Personal Injuries Assessment Board Act 2003
and the Civil Liabilities and Court Acts 2004.
Another useful chapter is on the area of
service of Civil Bills and jurisdiction. He
deals with pleadings in great detail as well as
discovery, inspection of documents and interrogatories
as well as security for costs. The
discreet areas within the Circuit Court such as
liquor licences, probate actions, family law,
landlord and tenant proceedings, planning,
employment are all dealt with by way of individual
chapter. Chapters such as discovery in
the Circuit Court and costs in the Circuit
Court are also of great relevance and assistance
to solicitors.
This book could be viewed, as Mr. Dowling
suggests, as an extensive commentary of the
Circuit Court rules, referring to reported and
unreported decisions of the courts, legalisation
and practice directions. It is an invaluable
and necessary guide for solicitors who
wish to practice seriously in the Circuit Court
and great praise is due to Mr. Dowling for the
production of this accessible, relevant and essential
guide.
Keith Walsh
Murdoch’s
Dictionary of
Irish Law
5th Edition,
Brian Hunt,
2008
Tottell Publishing
€135.00
Producing the first and only dictionary of
Irish Law must have been a very thankless
task. It is easy to imagine Henry Murdoch
being stopped in the corridors of the Four
Courts and told of a word or phrase, which
he had omitted from the first edition of his
dictionary in 1988. Now 21 years on, Mr.
32 www.dsba.ie

ook reviews
Murdoch has
passed on the
baton to a former
barrister,
academic and
solicitor Brian
Hunt of
Mason Hayes
and Curran
Solicitors. The
dictionary is
also available
in an online
version, however
most practitioners will still want to update
their library with the bound version
which runs to well over 1300 pages. There is
plenty of Latin from long ago as well as words
such as Phishing “a practice prevalent on the
internet whereby persons are induced to divulge
personal information, including banking
details, which can then be used by criminals to
defraud the victim of money”. Seised is defined
as a feudal term referring to one possessed
of a free hold. A person’s Will is
ambulatory until death meaning capable of
being revoked. The Grandfather Clause is a
colloquial expression to describe a provision
exempting certain persons from new requirements,
e.g. in the introduction of new minimal
levels of qualifications, persons are deemed to
meet the qualification requirements on the
basis of practice, experience and expertise.
The expression comes from a clause in the
constitutions of several states in the US that
waived electoral literacy requirements for lineal
descendants of persons voting before
1867, which had the effect of just ensuring the
franchise of illiterate white voters; the clause
was declared unconstitutional in 1915.
I was disappointed, though I searched long
and hard, not to find a definition of ambulance
chaser in the dictionary. Other phrases
which chilled the bone of Solicitors such as all
in settlement, meaning nobody will get what
they want but some may get more than they
deserve is not included in this edition, perhaps
the next. Another phrase which is gaining,
common currency in legal circles at the
minute is a case for Europe meaning a case
which has very little likelihood of success in
this jurisdiction. The only definition with
which a solicitor could quibble is the definition
of champerty, which is the maintenance
and finance by a person, not necessarily a solicitor,
of an action or litigation in order to
make a gain; this is a common law misdemeanour,
now an offence. There is a slight
mix-up in this definition, which may lead the
non-solicitor reader to believe that percentage
charging in a personal injury action is not
contrary to the 1994 Solicitors Act. No doubt
this is due to a typographical error, which will
be corrected, in the next edition.
Finally the last word must rest with Mr.
Hunt, who, in addition to all his professional
and academic qualifications was once legal
advisor to Fine Gael, it is appropriate then
that he defines Blueshirts as the popular
name given to members of army comrades association,
an organisation of ex free state army
members, founded in 1932, provided ex ministers
of the political party, Cumann na Gael
(now Fine Gael) with bodyguards at public
meetings. In 1933, the blueshirt began to appear
as the distinctive uniform of the movement.
For a moment or two I questioned the
relevance of this entry to the dictionary of
Irish Law, but on mature consideration it reflects
the depth and diversity of this dictionary,
which should find a home in most
solicitors offices. Highly recommended.
Keith Walsh

Affidavits of Discovery –
recent changes
New Rules of the Superior
Courts dealing with Discovery
have been introduced and
came into effect on 16 April
2009 under S.I. No. 93 of
2009. The new rules mainly deal with discovery
of electronically stored information.
They specifically state that documentation
sought in discovery includes electronically
stored information, whereas previously this
had just been implied.
The new rules also introduce a new paragraph
to be inserted into the Affidavit of Discovery,
which expressly states the purposes
of discovery - so that someone swearing an
Affidavit is fully aware of his/her obligations
in the discovery process.
Below are the main provisions from the
new rules:-
“Document”
Under the new rules, the definition of “documents”
includes all electronically stored information
and any reference to “business
documents” shall be interpreted accordingly.
A party may seek electronic data in
searchable format
Order 31, rule 12(1)(c) states that where the
discovery sought includes electronically
stored information, the party seeking the discovery
shall specify whether he seeks the production
of any of these electronically stored
documents in searchable form. If the documents
are required in searchable form, the
party seeking them must state whether or not
he will need to use the IT system owned or
operated by the opposing party in order to
carry out the necessary searches.
The Court may order a party to give inspection
and search facilities for electronic
data on its computer system to the other side
Where the application to Court includes
discovery of electronically stored information
and the Court is satisfied that such electronically
stored information is held in searchable
form, the Court may order:
❯ That the documents specified in the Order
are provided electronically in the searchable
form in which they are held by the party
against whom discovery has been ordered;
❯ That the party against whom discovery has
been ordered, makes inspection and
searching facilities available, including its
own IT system, so that the party seeking
discovery can avail of any search function
available to the party ordered to make discovery;
(the Court can order this when it is
satisfied that any documents or any information
could not be searched by the party
seeking discovery, without incurring unreasonable
expense).
The Court may order an independent
expert carry out inspection and search
for relevant electronic data
Where the Court orders that IT systems are
to be made available to the party seeking discovery,
it may include in its Order a provision
to ensure that any documents in relation to
which no Order of discovery has been made
are not accessed or accessible. The Court
may include in its Order, a provision for an
independent expert or person (agreed by the
parties) to undertake the inspection and
searching of the electronically stored documentation.
The fees and expenses incurred in
this regard will form part of the costs.
Listing of documents
The new rules address the issue of labelling
and classification of documents in Affidavits
of Discovery. Documents must now be listed
and correspond with the categories of documents
in the Order/agreements for discovery,
or be listed in a sequence corresponding with
the manner in which the documents have
been stored or kept in the usual course of
business.
New form of Affidavit of Discovery
As mentioned above, there is a new Affidavit
of Discovery attached to the S.I. This Affidavit
introduces a new paragraph which expressly
states the purpose of discovery so that
anyone swearing such an Affidavit is fully
aware of his/her obligations in relation to
same. It reads as follows:-
“I understand that the obligation on a
party giving discovery is to discover all documents
and electronically stored information
within his/her/its possession, power or procurement
within the categories agreed or ordered
to be delivered that contain
information which may enable the party receiving
the discovery to advance its own case
or to damage the case of the party giving discovery
or which may fairly lead to a train of
inquiry which may have either of those consequences.”
This imposes an obligation on all persons
giving discovery to swear an Affidavit that
they understand their obligation to give adequate
discovery, including discovery of documents
and electronic data, which may
damage or help their case. This new paragraph
must now be included in all Affidavits
of Discovery.
Taking Affidavits
Separately, a recently enacted SI (SI 95 of
2009) (which came into operation on the 16
April 2009) deals with the taking of Affidavits
generally.
When witnessing a deponent swearing/signing
an Affidavit, it is now necessary for the Solicitor/Commissioner
for Oaths taking
(attesting/witnessing the swearing) to record in
the jurat how he/she knows the deponent by
reference to 3 options – namely, (i) that he/she
personally knows the deponent; (ii) that the
deponent has been identified to him/her by
someone personally known to him/her and
named in the jurat who certifies his knowledge
of the deponent; or (iii) that the identity of the
deponent has been established by reference to
a relevant document containing a photograph
of the deponent before the Affidavit was taken
and in the latter case, particulars of the relevant
document shall be given (e.g. passport).
Provision is also made in the SI for the taking
of Affidavits where the deponent is blind or illiterate.
Fiona Ward
Solicitor – Eversheds O’Donnell Sweeney and
member of the DSBA Litigation Committee
34 www.dsba.ie

conveyancing
Calling all
conveyancing
practitioners
The Conveyancing Committee have recently had a
number of queries from practitioners regarding unusual
difficulties and new practices they have encountered
when dealing with the financial
institutions. The Committee would like to establish
how widespread these practices are and would be
obliged if you have experienced any difficulties with
the following to please contact the chairperson of
the Committee, Julie Doyle at
julie.doyle@ireland.com so that we can review the
issues and tackle the institutions head on; -
❯ Loan offers being revoked prior to cheque issue
despite the loan acceptance having been signed
❯ Unusual conditions in loan offers
❯ Difficulties obtaining redemption figures or unusual
clauses in redemption figure letters
❯ Any other difficulties
Julie Doyle
Chairperson of the Conveyancing Committee
Practice notes
in practice
❯ It has come to the attention of the Conveyancing Committee
that some financial institutions have been revoking their loan offers
after they have been accepted by clients. This has led to difficulties
regarding unconditional contracts having been signed
on the back of the loan offer having issued. Therefore, the
Committee would suggest that a purchasers solicitor insert a
special condition into the Contract for Sale stating that the contract
is subject to the issue of the loan cheque as opposed to
subject to loan. The Committee realise that this may cause difficulties
when selling in a chain however, it is the intention of the
Committee to pursue the offending Institutions in this regard.
❯ The Conveyancing Committee have received a number of
queries regarding a new requirement by some of the financial
institutions requesting an updated Section 72 Declaration
when returning a Certificate of Title for a re-mortgage.
It is the opinion of the Committee that this is not an unreasonable
request (albeit a new requirement) considering the
contents of the declaration. It may indeed be the case that
the circumstances have changed since the original purchase
and therefore the Committee feel that as a matter of practice
a Section 72 Declaration should be included with the
Certificate of Title for a remortgage.
Julie Doyle
Chairperson of the Conveyancing Committee
High Court case
on guardianship
register
New reporting
restrictions on
family law cases
on the way?
family law
At present, almost a third of
the annual 65,000 births in
Ireland are to unmarried
parents. Under existing legislation,
the automatic
guardian of a non-marital
child is its mother.
A father who wishes to obtain
the important constitutional
rights of a guardian
has to apply to court, unless
the child’s mother agrees to
swear a joint statutory declaration.
In the absence of a
court ruling, the only record
of the father’s guardianship
is the declaration itself.
The system is flawed in
that should a father’s
guardianship declaration
from the court be lost or destroyed,
he may not be able
to exercise his guardianship
rights, or to appoint
guardians to care for his children
after he dies.
In the coming months, the
High Court will hear the case
of an unmarried Dublin father
and his two-year old
daughter on this issue and it
is likely to put pressure on
the Government to establish
a Guardianship Register.
The call for this National
Guardianship Register has
been echoed by Supreme
Court Judge Nicholas
Kearns who voiced his opinion
on the need for a central
register in a recent report on
Family law.
A Courts Service Report has called for the removal
of most restrictions on the reporting of
family law cases, which are currently heard in
camera.
This follows on the news that in England and
Wales, media organisations are now entitled to
attend private hearings. The Family Proceedings
(Amendment)(No.2) Rules 2009 introduced
new rules in April in the UK which apply to all
proceedings held in private, except for conciliation
or negotiation hearings.
A report presented to the board of the Courts
Service by the Family Law Reporting Project
Committee said there was a loophole in Irish law
under Section 40(3) of the 2004 Civil Liability
and Courts Act. The report says this legislation
meant that media organisations could employ a
barrister or solicitor to report on family law
cases, but any attempts to use a reporter who
was not legally qualified would require change to
the current legislation.
parchment | Summer 2009 35

Circuit Court Rules (Service)
2009 (SI No. 132 of 2009)
litigation
This introduction of the above SI
in April has seen new rules regarding
the issue and service of Civil
Bills. These rules set down the current
service procedures as well as
making amendments to bring the
service procedures into line with
the rules of the Circuit Court. The
SI also introduces new forms relating
to endorsement of service and
statutory declarations.
All litigation practitioners are
encouraged to familiarise themselves
with the new SI which also
deals with authentication of service,
substituted service and service
on particular defendants such
as infants, persons of unsound
mind, etc.
Please visit www.courts.ie for
full details of the changes and a
copy of the new forms.
The Litigation Committee
Dormant Funds – unclaimed
funds in the Circuit Court
The Courts Service website
www.courts.ie has published a
list of thousands of accounts
which on the 31st of December,
2008, had not been dealt with for
15 years or upwards. The list has
been prepared by the County
Registrars of the Circuit Courts.
The accounts, which have
been carried over to a general
ledger account for dormant balances
by the County Registrars
A new Fines Bill, aimed at reducing
the numbers imprisoned for
non-payment of fines was published
by Justice Mininster Dermot
Ahern April 21st . It will allow
for the payment of fines by installments
and will provide for the indexation
of fines. The new Bill
includes provision for assessment
of a person’s capacity to pay. It
will give the courts power to make
a recovery order, that is, to treat
an unpaid fine in the same way as
the non-payment of a civil debt (a
personal debt). It will also give the
Courts power to impose a community
service order for non-payment
of a fine by the due date.
in pursuance of Rule 10, Order
18 of the Circuit Court Rules,
2001 will be transferred to the
Exchequer if no claim is made on
same.
Anybody wishing to make a
claim against these accounts
should contact the County Registrar
concerned and produce proof
of entitlement.
The Litigation Committee
New Fines Bill
However, there are no proposals
to end the practice where people
can be imprisoned for the non-payment
of a civil debt, despite calls
from opposition parties and the
UN Committee on Human Rights
to end the use of imprisonment to
enforce civil debts.
Last year 276 debt defaulters
were imprisioned for failing to
repay creditors. Fifty-four people
were locked up for failing to pay
their TV licence fee. The average
sentence in these cases was 20
days resulting in a huge bill for
the taxpayer.
The Litigation Committee
Supreme
Court delays
A new report has been delivered to Government
calling on the establishment of a
new Court of Civil Appeal. The committee
tasked with examining the situation was
chaired by Mrs. Justice Susan Denham.
There are currently delays of up to three
years for appeals from the High Court getting
a hearing in the Supreme Court and
to coin the old phrase “Justice delayed is
justice denied.”
In May 2009, there were 189 cases listed
and waiting to he heard by the Supreme
Court – an increase of 20% on the same
month last year, when there were 146
cases. The Courts Service say that the average
waiting period for all cases in 2008
was 17 months. The longest period which a
case had to wait was 31 months and the
shortest was one day. However, the average
includes priority cases, which usually get
on in a matter of weeks, if not days. All
other cases are likely to have to wait for
over two years.
Not only are there delays in appeals getting
heard, but there are also delays in the
Supreme Court delivering judgement. One
well-publicised case heard last October is
still awaiting judgment and it is not usual
to expect a delay of several months for
judgement to be handed down in some
cases.
The Supreme Court has seen a large increase
in the number of lay litigants that
appeal cases from the High Court, often
with little prospect of success, but the case
must still be heard. There were 71 lay litigants
last year, 16% of the 443 cases
lodged. This compared with 49 lay litigants
the previous year, out of 373 cases lodged.
There are eight Supreme Court Judges
who deal with the large workload. It is understood
that the Denham Commission
has recommended a referendum to clear
the way for a Court of Civil Appeal, as the
Constitution does not provide for one.
John Geary
Chairman of the Litigation Committee
36 www.dsba.ie

in practice
DPP now
allowed to
appeal against
decisions to
grant bail
At the end of May, Justice Minister Dermot
Ahern signed an Order amending the bail
laws. The Director of Public Prosecution
(DPP) will be now be able to appeal to the
High Court against a decision of the District
Court to grant bail. The DPP will also be
able to appeal against the conditions attached
by the District Court to the bail.
The amendments were enacted in the
Criminal Justice Act 2007, section 19(a).
This Order now brings them into operation.
Previously, only the applicant could appeal
against a decision of the District Court.
It is expected that this Order will be a useful
and effective addition to the DPP’s powers.
The Litigation Committee
New signing
requirments
for solicitors
As a result of solicitors failing to comply
with pre-trial directions in the Commercial
Court, since early June all individual solicitors
will have to sign the certificate required
to put a case into the Commercial Court list.
The President of the High Court, Mr. Justice
Richard Johnson, when issuing the practice
direction said it was no longer enough for
certificates to be signed in the name of a firm.
The individual solicitor must also undertake
to ensure that the court’s directions are
fully complied with.
The Litigation Committee
The DSBA in association
with Resolution
The DSBA in association with
Resolution (formerly the Solicitors
Family Law Association of
England & Wales) ran the first
Family Law Mediation Course
ever held in Ireland on 11-14 May and 15
& 16 June 2009.
This writer was one of the participants
on the course where 16 Family lawyers
undertook intensive training over a period
of six days. Many of the lawyers on the
course had previously trained as Collaborative
Lawyers and were anxious to enhance
their skills through mediation
training. The Resolution trainers, Robbie
Clerke, Suzy Power & Angela Lake-
Carroll have extensive experience in
Mediation training and practice. The
Course offered by Resolution is strongly
based on learning by doing, through roleplay
and continual assessment of each
participant. There is a long reading list
which covers the origins of mediation and
approaches to constructive negotiation,
including the seminal work by Ury and
Fisher ‘Getting to Yes’.
Each participant learns the theory behind
successful Mediation, while also getting
to practise the various roles of mediator,
client and observer, through the ongoing
role plays. Participants learn a
number of techniques for dealing with
impasse and other difficulties that can
arise in the course of negotiations.
The Resolution model follows principles
of established mediation practice
while recognising that parties negotiate
“in the shadow of the law”. It views mediation
as an integral part of the process
of separation and divorce, standing alongside
other relevant processes including
the legal process, as well as counselling
and therapy.
Those successfully completing the
course in Ireland will be entitled to apply
for certified membership of the Mediators
Institute of Ireland (“MII”). The
next course runs from 8th to 10th September
inclusive and on 28th and 29th
September 2009. For further information
please contact Maura Smith at
maura@dsba.ie.
Jennifer O’Brien
Chairperson of the DSBA Family Law
Committee
parchment | Summer 2009 37

Is this your copy of the parchment?
Are you on our mailing list?
If not, please contact Maura Smith
Dublin Solicitors Bar Association, 90 Harcourt Street, Dublin 2, Ireland.
Tel: 01 4763824 • E-Mail: info@dsba.ie
Update your personal details online at
www.dsba.ie

photocall
DSBA insolvency and
receivership seminar
THE DSBA held a professional development seminar on April 23rd entitled “Insolvency and Receivership –
The new reality.” It was a joint Presentation by the Conveyancing Committee and the Business & Commercial
Law Committees of the DSBA. The speakers were Tom Kavanagh of Kavanagh Fennell Accountants; Robert
Hutchinson – Partner in Catalyst Management Consultants; Neil Keenan – Partner, Lavery Kirby Gilmartin;
Joseph O’Malley – Partner, Hayes Solicitors and Collette Staunton – Partner, BCM Hanby Wallace.
5
1
2
6
3 4
7
1. Joe O'Malley (Hayes Solicitors); Neil Keenan (Lavery Kirby Gilmartin); Robert Hutchinson; Collette Staunton (BCM Hanby Wallace), Julie Doyle (Chair of
Conveyancing Comm.); John Hogan (Leman Solicitors) 2. Brendan McCudden (ESB); Kay Cogan (Cogan Daly & Co.); John Plunkett (Plunkett Kirwan & Co.)
3. Ethna Ryan (Partners at law); Aine Gleeson (Kane Toohy) 4. Sarah Gallagher (Dillon Eustace); Aoife Thornton (Pierse Fitzgibbons); Catherine Hicks (Dillon
Eustace) 5. Aileen Hughes Courtney (Michael Sheil & Partners); Patrick Quinn (Orpen Franks Solicitors) 6. Ruadhan Killeen (Killeen Solicitors); Sally de
Foubert (Murray Flynn Maguire); Stephen P. Maher (O'Mara Hegarty McCourt) 7. Joseph Curran (Daniel J. Reilly & Co); Derek Matthews; John Mulvey
parchment | Summer 2009 39

1
PIAB seminar
The DSBA held a professional development seminar on March 26th entitled “Personal Injuries Litigation –
5 years of PIAB.” It was organised by the Litigation, PIAB, Employment, Immigration and Criminal Law
Committee of the DSBA. The speakers were Maurice Priestley, Director of Operations, PIAB; Stuart
Gilhooly, partner in H J Ward & Co, Solicitors; John Savage, Head of Legal Services – AXA Insurance and
David Nolan S.C.
2 3
1. A large cross section of litigation solicitors attended the event 2. Chairman of the DSBA Litigation Committee John Geary and Maurice
Priestley, Director of Operations, PIAB 3. Niamh Tuite (Liam Keane & Partners) and Marie Claire Scullion (Moriarty & Co.)
40 www.dsba.ie

photocall
4
5
6 7
8 9
4. Aine Hynes and Joan Doran 5. Freda Grealy (Law Society of Ireland) and Michael Bourke (Injuries Board) 6. Evanna Killeen (Killeen
Solicitors) and Julie O'Connor (Joseph Deane & Associates) 7. Paul Connolly (Delahunty O'Connor Solicitors) and John Geary 8. Robert
Kieran (JC Kieran); Dave Tansey (Becker Tansey) and Ronan O'Reilly (O'Reilly Thomas) 9. Stuart Gilhooly speaking at the DSBA PIAB seminar
parchment | Summer 2009 41

Clash of laws seminar
The Probate Committee of the DSBA hosted a Professional Development Seminar on April 28th entitled
“Clash of Laws” at the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland. Among the issues covered were the capital
tax implications of cross-border estate administrations, Double taxation treaties, recent developments
to encompass the EU Succession Directive and the Hague Convention on Succession as well as the law
applicable to Estates that contain a cross border/ multi jurisdictional component.The speakers were
John Gill a partner in the Private Client Department at Matheson Ormsby Prentice and Madelina
Loughrey Grant, a solicitor in the Private Client Department of Farrer & Co., Solicitors in London.
1
2
3 4
1. John Mulvey; Alice Gibbons (Malone & Potter) 2. Mary Casey and Ivan Healy (Beatty & Healy) 3. Brian Woodcock (O'Keeffe Moore & Woodcock);
David Murphy (Corrigan & Corrigan) 4. Madelina Loughrey Grant; Justin McKenna (Chairman of Probate & Tax Committee + Partners
at Law); John Gill (Matheson Ormsby Prentice)
42 www.dsba.ie

photocall
5 6
7 8
9 10
5. Paul MacCormack (Coyle Kennedy MacCormack); DSBA Vice President John 'Spanner' O'Malley; Paul Smyth (Smyth & Son) 6. Robin Merrick
and Aoife Ni Fhloinn (Daniel Spring & Co.) 7. Tom Halligan (Gaffney Halligan Solicitors); Lorna Shannon (Gaffney Halligan Solicitors); Paul
Diamond (Paul Diamond & Co.) 8. Sharon Scally (Amorys); Anita Kerrigan (Noel Symth & Partners) 9. Clodagh O'Hagan (McKeever Rowan);
Margaret Harty (Vincent & Beatty); Alice Boland (Richard McGuinness & Co) 10. Kevin O'Higgins; John Gaynor (John Gaynor & Co.)
parchment | Summer 2009 43

YDS rugby screening
The YDS Committee hosted a big screen viewing of the Heineken Cup Rugby Final between Leinster and
Leicester on May 23rd. Up to 160 members enjoyed the atmosphere and excitement and the
atmosphere was electric!
1 2 3
4 7
5
6
8
9 10 11
4. Julie Dowd (Kilroy Solicitors); David Lane (Start Mortgages) and Dario Di Murro (Kilroy Solicitors) 5. Linda O'Shea and John O'Malley
(Spanner) 6. Lorna Lee and Eileen Sheehan 7. Nicholas McNicholas BL, Susan Dean; Keith Walsh; Stuart Gilhooly
44 www.dsba.ie

photocall
1 4
2
3
5
DSBA council meeting
The DSBA were honoured to hold their monthly Council Meeting at the Mansion House on May 13th last.
Afterwards the annual ‘Committee’s Dinner’ took place at the Pig’s Ear Restaurant where all solicitors
who sit on the various DSBA Committees were thanked for all their voluntary work, effort and time.
6 7 8
1. Alma Sheehan,Conor Canavan and Isobel McCarthy 2. Danielle Conaghan 3. DSBA Council Members, Keith Walsh and Grainne Whelan
4. DSBA President Kevin O'Higgins presenting a cheque for €6,000 on behalf of the DSBA to John O'Malley of the Irish Cancer Society
5. Justin McKenna and Fiona Duffy 6. Lord Mayor Evelyn Byrne and DSBA President Kevin O'Higgins 7. Stuart Gilhooly and Claire O'Regan
8. The Council of the DSBA pictured at the Mansion House for their May monthly meeting
parchment | Summer 2009 45

2
1
3
Clearing the decks seminar
The DSBA hosted a Professional Development Seminar on 5th May at the Royal Colleage of Physicians of
Ireland entitled “Clearing the Decks”. Organised by the Probate and Taxation Committee, the seminar
dealt with tax clearance, closing the file, Revenue treatment of probate matters, audits, protecting the
client and protecting the solicitor. The speakers were Anne Stephenson of Stephenson Solicitors and
Finola O’Hanlon of O’Hanlon Tax Limited.
4 5
1. Peter Harrison (Hayes Solicitors); Denise Creamer and Robin Merrick 2. Joseph Mooney (Joseph G Mooney Solicitors) and Anne Stephenson
(Stephenson Solicitors) 3. Tom Barry (Thomas Barry & Co.) and Melissa Guy (Murphy & Evans) 4. John Bourke (P O'Connor & Son) snd
Alice Gibbons (Malone & Potter) 5. John Finnegan (Bowler Geraghty & Co.); Agnes Crean (Crean & Co.) and Bill Jolley (Bowler Geraghty)
46 www.dsba.ie

photocall
DSBA and YDS seminar
The DSBA in association with the YDS (Young Dublin Solicitors) held a free professional development
seminar on Saturday 9th May at the Radisson Hotel, Golden Lane. Entitled “Making a Living out of Law –
Survival Tactics” the speakers were: Barry Reynolds, associate solicitor in the Arthur Cox employment law
unit; John Hogan, partner in Leman Solicitors, David Byrnes of Brightwater and Mark Pollack,
motivational speaker. The seminar was very well attended.
1 2 3
4
5
6
7 8 9
1. Carole-Anne Bergin (Farrell Solicitors) and Ewan Murtagh (Whelan Murtagh) 2. Cora Sherlock (Maxwells); Paula Kelleher (Dillon Eustace)
and Claire Hallinan 3. David Burns (Brightwater); Simone George (BCM Hanby Wallace) and Mark Pollock (Guest Speaker) 4. Tom Donaghy
(Patrick Donaghy Sols.) and Michael M. Moran 5. Hilary Ryan (P. J. Walsh & Co.) and Aisling Feeney 6. Fran Carter (Dexia Credit Local) and
David Hickey (Chief State Solicitors Office) 7. James Heney and Mary C. Dillon 8. Faye Bohan (Chief State Solicitors Office); Mary Davoren
(Chief State Solicitors Office) and Orla Nally (McDermott & Assocs.) 9. Julia Wedde (Beau Park Law) and Sandra Unthan (Keith Walsh Solicitors)
parchment | Summer 2009 47

closing argument
The young ones
To those of us who grew up in
the eighties, The Young Ones was
must see TV. You couldn’t even
think of going to school the next
day if you weren’t fully up to
speed on the antics of Vivian, Rick, Neil
and Mike. To the uninitiated, they were
four layabouts who lived together in dingy
accommodation, and in a slapstick irreverent
manner epitomised all that was
wrong about Thatcher’s Britain in the
early part of that decade. We didn’t take it
seriously (you couldn’t, in fairness) but it
set a standard which while grossly exaggerated
was grounded in reality.
This was the world in which today’s
thirty and forty somethings found their
feet. In our formative years, unemployment
was always double percentage figures
and we all knew people who were out
of work. But then it all changed totally.
The nineties started, the Celtic cub became
a tiger and we inhabited a completely
different country. When I started
my apprenticeship in 1992, jobs in the
profession were still hard
to come by but eventually
everyone got one. By the
time we qualified, the
glory days had arrived.
Now, those same
bright-eyed twenty year
olds are world-weary
partners or struggling
one-man practices with
young children and one
million euro mortgages.
Every day the question is
cut or not to cut, be it
wages, staff or loose. It’s
so easy to forget that no
more than two years ago
we were actually crying
out for more young solicitors.
We couldn’t get them
out of the law school
quick enough and then we
had to pay them what was
perceived a huge salary to
just get them on board for a year or two.
Christ, a good solicitor was Cristiano
Ronaldo and Lionel Messi rolled into one,
sign ‘em up and keep ‘em sweet.
But that was then and this is now. The
world has changed utterly and suddenly
an assistant solicitor is persona non
grata. This is understandable but ultimately
will result in disaster. Yes, costs
have to be cut, and books have to be balanced.
The problem is that we are seeing
the country’s brightest ever talent walk
out the door. And they won’t come back.
At the moment, there is nowhere to go
as the world is in recession. As well as
that, today’s bright young things are still
a little bit shell-shocked. They didn’t live
through the bleak eighties and life has always
been good to them. Now, the reality
that has bitten them, will take time to
fully sink in. It will though and when
jobs become available, they will be off to
England, the US and wherever else that
will give them a career. We can’t expect
them to wait forever and certainly
It’s so easy to forget
that no more than
two years ago we
were actually crying
out for more young
solicitors.
shouldn’t hope that they will hang
around long enough for this government
to work a way out of this recession.
So the effect will be two fold. Today’s
newly qualified solicitors will be gone to
pastures new. Some will come back but
most will make careers, have families and
settle down elsewhere. But the second effect
will be worse. The solicitor’s profession
will become less attractive to law students,
tomorrow’s newly qualified solicitors. That
might seem fine now but in
the long run, when business
is booming again (and
it will be, nothing is surer)
those empty desks will
need to be filled again.
There is no doubt this
article can be filed under
‘easier said than done’ but
equally the world is full of
business people with regrets.
Many young, inexperienced
but hugely
talented solicitors are willing
to work for much reduced
salaries.
So don’t waste a good
recession, really good
quality solicitors are
going very cheap right
now. Get down to Bargaintown.
•
Stuart Gilhooly
48 www.dsba.ie

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In an effort to ease the pressure on members of the Bar Association commencing new
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If you wish to avail of this offer email CORT Limited directly at cort@cortsite.com, or ring
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