§ COLONEL COLTHURSTasked Mr. Attorney General for Ireland, Whether his attention has been called to a statement in the Paris correspondence of the "Times" of Saturday last, copied from "La Triboulêt," wherein it is stated, upon the alleged authority of the honourable the junior Member for Cork, that the Archbishops of Dublin are nominated by the English Government, which is careful in choosing them, these Catholic prelates share the prejudices of the Anglican Church against us; and, whether it is true that the Most Reverend Doctor McCabe, the present Roman Catholic Archbishop of Dublin, was nominated to that see by the English Government; and, if, so, since what date, and under what circumstances, has the Holy See delegated such a power to the Irish Executive?
§ MR. HEALY (for Mr. A. M. SULLIVAN)asked the honourable and gallant Member for Cork County, What steps, if any, he took before giving notice of the Question which stands in his name, to ascertain whether as a matter of fact the honourable Member for Cork City ever made any such statement as that referred to in the honourable and gallant gentle- 134 man's Question merely on the authority of an interviewer in a French newspaper?
§ [Colonel COLTHURST did not answer the Question.]
§ THE ATTORNEY GENERAL FOR IRELAND (Mr. LAW)I have seen in the newspapers the statement referred to in this Question; but I have no means of knowing whether it was published, as alleged, on the authority of the hon. Gentleman the junior Member for Cork. [Mr. HEALY: Hear, hear!] So far, however, as the statement itself is concerned, I can say that neither the present Roman Catholic Archbishop of Dublin nor any of his predecessors have been nominated to that See by the English Government. The statement quoted is utterly void of foundation.