§ MR. FINIGANasked the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, Whether he is aware that the magistrates assembled in Quarter Sessions held in Downpatrick, County Down, on April 1st, appointed as clerk of the Petty Sessions of Holwood and Bangor an avowed member of an Orange Lodge; whether a memorial was forwarded to the Lord Lieutenant, praying him not to confirm such appointment on the ground that it would destroy confidence in the local administration of justice; whether the Lord Lieutenant has declined to interfere, and, if so, on what grounds; and, whether the Government will not review the appointment in the interests of peace and order in this district?
§ MR. W. E. FORSTERSir, I find on inquiry that a person was appointed clerk of the Petty Sessions district of Holywood and Bangor, and a question as to whether he was an Orangeman or not appears to have been brought before the Court, and the reply was that he had not attended an Orange meeting as alleged, but a meeting in connection with an election in which he had acted as a paid clerk, under the direction of the chairman of the meeting. It was also stated that the fact was not established by any documents laid before the Government that this gentleman was an Orangeman. The Lord Lieutenant, I believe, was asked not to confirm this appointment, and he declined to interfere, on the ground that the election of clerk of Petty Sessions rested with the Justices, and that unless there was some legal disqualification, the Lord Lieutenant never refused his sanction. The Irish Government has no power—or, at any rate, it is a question whether it has any power—to review the appointment. I can only say I hope most heartily the magistrates at Petty Sessions in Ireland will not appoint avowed Orangemen or avowed partizans of any kind, and will make their appointments as free from political bias as possible.