HC Deb 30 March 1885 vol 296 cc970-1
MR. ARTHUR O'CONNOR

asked the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, Whether it is true that the services of two magistrates, Mr. Gibson and Mr. Walpole, have, owing to their having obtained Government appointments which take them else-where, been lost to the Borris in Ossory Petty Sessions district; whether it is true that, during the past year, on some occasions no Sessions were held in Borris in Ossory for want of magistrates; whether the administration of justice in Borris in Ossory Petty Sessions is practically in the hands of two relatives; whether a Memorial, signed by the Roman Catholic Ordinary of the diocese of Ossory, the clergy of the deanery in which Borris Petty Sessions are held, and by the people of the district, recommending two resident Catholic gentlemen for the Commission of the Peace, was forwarded to the lieutenant of the county, and, on his failing to comply with its prayer, was sent direct to the Lord Chancellor; and, whether the Lord Chancellor has refused to appoint these two gentlemen to the Commission of the Peace for no other reason than the absence of a recommendation from the Lieutenant of the county?

MR. CAMPBELL-BANNERMAN

There is a very fair attendance of magistrates on the Borris-in-Ossory Bench, Petty Sessions having only failed there on two out of 26 occasions in the past year, and the business is stated to be very light. It is not true that the administration of justice there is in the hands of two relatives. There are one Protestant and one Catholic Justice residing in close vicinity. It is true the Lord Chancellor has declined to overrule the decision of Lord De Vesci with regard to the gentlemen named in the Memorial referred to; but he satisfied himself of the reasonableness of that decision beforehand.

MR. ARTHUR O'CONNOR

asked whether it was a fact that the Catholic Resident Magistrate referred to signed the Memorial in favour of giving the Commission of the Peace to two Catholics on the ground that he was not able to attend the Sessions at the place; and what had become of the promise of the late Chief Secretary that if eligible men were selected the fact that the Lord Lieutenant of the county did not recommend them would not bind the Lord Chancellor?

MR. CAMPBELL- BANNERMAN

Neither does it.