HC Deb 24 June 1890 vol 345 c1777
MR. M. J. KENNY (Tyrone, Mid)

I beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland if he is aware that the Memorial presented to Colonel Lowry, the Vice Lieutenant of County Tyrone, asking for the appointment of MR. P. M'Laughlin to the Commission of the Peace, was signed by MR. Hamilton, J. P., senior Magistrate for the Dromore district, the local Catholic clergy, the Presbyterian minister, and the respectable farmers and merchants of the district of all religious denominations; and if the refusal to appoint MR. M'Laughlin was not due to the fact that he is a Catholic, whether he will state what the cause is?

MR. A. J. BALFOUR

I have not seen the Memorial referred to. But the Vice Lieutenant assures me that the fact of the gentleman referred to being a Roman Catholic was regarded by him as a strong reason to appoint him to the Commission of the Peace if possible. No public advantage would be gained by stating the reasons which I understand led to the decision in the case, which rested, of course, wholly in the discretion of the Vice Lieutenant.

MR. W. REDMOND

Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that with a Roman Catholic population in the county of 10,000 there are only four Roman Catholic Magistrates?

MR. A. J. BALPOUR

I do not know whether these statistics are correct. If they are they would justify the view taken by the Vice Lieutenant, that the fact of the gentleman being a Roman Catholic would be a strong reason to appoint him.

MR. M. J. KENNY

MR. M'Laughlin is the most respectable Catholic in the district.