§ MR. BIGGAR, in whose name a Notice stood on the Paper that he would move for a Copy of Correspondence between the Irish Executive, the Lord Chancellor of Ireland, and The O'Donoghue, M.P., with reference to his removal from the Magistracy of Ireland and the Kerry Militia in 1862, and his re-appointment to the Magistracy in 1873, not being in the House when his name was called by the Speaker,
THE O'DONOGHUEsaid, that as personal reference was made to him in this Notice, he asked permission of the House to make an explanation on the subject. The proposed Motion contained a serious charge, if not directly, at least inferentially, that ought not to have been put forward by an hon. Member who absented himself. It was stated in the Notice that he was removed from his commission in the Kerry Militia. There was, however, no foundation for such a statement. He resigned the commission which he held in the Kerry Militia because, the regiment being quartered in England, he found it inconvenient at the end of a Session not to be able to return to Ireland for a few months. The Notice also insinuated, with reference to his restoration to the commission of the peace, that he had carried on some correspondence with the Executive in Ireland and the Lord Chancellor. He begged, however, to state that he never carried on a correspondence directly or indirectly with the Irish Executive, the Lord Chancellor, or any other official, with respect, to his restoration to the commission of the peace.