§ Mr. Owen O'Conoron presenting Petitions from the united Parishes of Roscommon and Killivin, from the Parish of Boyle, the Parish of Tassanagh, of Aughrim, of Kilhimad, and Taumna, said—Sir, I hold in my hand, Petitions from the Roman Catholic Inhabitants of several Parishes in the County of Roscommon—that county for which I have the honour of being a Representative; those petitions are very numerously and respectably signed. They all complain of an unequal and improper 452 distribution of the funds granted to the Kildare-street Society, for the education of the poor in Ireland, and they pray that the allocation of any sum which shall be granted in future for this purpose, shall not be intrusted to that Society. The petition from the inhabitants of the united parishes of Roscommon and Killivin is very short, and well deserving the attention of the House. I think, Sir, I may say without fear of contradiction, that there is no peasantry in Europe more anxious for instruction than the peasantry of Ireland, and that it was never in the contemplation of the Members of this House to withhold from the Catholic portion of that peasantry an equitable share of the sums granted for the education of the poor in that country; yet the petitioners complain that certain resolutions have been adopted by the Kildare-street Society, which, being contrary to the principles and tenets of the religion they profess, debar them from the advantages they expected to derive from those grants. I, however, confidently hope that his Majesty's Ministers will make such arrangements as will prevent any future complaint on the subject. My own feeling is, that a fair proportion of any sum granted in future for this purpose, should be given to the Roman Catholic Bishop and Clergy in every diocese in Ireland; being fully persuaded that they will dispose of it in the manner best calculated to attain the object for which it is intended. I also hold a Petition from the Roman Catholics of Navan, in the County of Meath; it is to the same effect as those I have already mentioned from the county of Roscommon, and I, therefore, beg leave to present it along with them, without any comment more than to solicit the attention of the House to the great interest which the people in every part of Ireland take in this subject.