§ MR. HEALYasked Mr. Attorney General for Ireland, Whether, owing to a recent death of a magistrate in the Fermoy district, county Cork, a vacancy now exists in the magistracy there; whether in that district, out of twelve magistrates, all except one are Protestants; and, whether, in view of the recent assurances which have been given by the Government, he can state that, if a Memorial be sent to the Lord Chancellor urging a suitable nomination, a Catholic will have the preference?
§ THE ATTORNEY GENERAL FOR IRELAND (Mr. LAW)Sir, I really do not see how I can be expected to answer Questions such as this. I have no special means of knowing whether or not a magistrate has recently died in the Fermoy district, nor can I tell the religion of individual magistrates there or elsewhere. With regard to the final paragraph of the Question, I cannot undertake to say what view the Lord Chancellor of Ireland may take on any particular Memorial; but I may repeat what has already been stated in the House, and what I know to be a fact—namely, that the Lord Chancellor is very anxious to remedy all just grounds of dissatisfaction that may exist with regard to magisterial appointments in Ireland.