MR. O'BRIENasked the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, If it is the fact that in filling up the vacancy for chief warder in Mountjoy Prison recently three principal warders were passed over, and an ordinary warder, their junior in the service, appointed; is it the fact that the latter is a Protestant, and that the three men passed over were Catholics; can he explain what were the superior qualifications possessed by the man who got the post, and in what the others were deficient; and, is it the case that in the Irish Convict Service Catholic principal warders are refused the supply of fuel and light for their houses, afforded to Protestants holding the same situations?
§ MR. TREVELYAN, in reply, said, the man who was promoted was considered by the Prisons Board as the most suitably experienced. He was a Protestant, and was one of the men passed over. The appointment of a Protestant was considered desirable. The object was to equalize the number of Protestants and Roman Catholics in the higher grades, the Deputy Governor and senior chief warder being Catholics. As regards the last paragraph, no difference was made between Protestant and Roman Catholic warders in respect of fuel and light. The ground for that suggestion might be found in the fact that one of the principal warders who had been transferred to another position was entitled by the terms of his promotion to fire and light.
MR. O'BRIENI invite the right hon. Gentleman's attention to the fact that of the 41 warders discharged from Spike Island 39 are Roman Catholics; and I would ask how he can explain that, whereas in every position open to fair competition Catholics are at least as well able to hold their own in every position where appointments is by favour or under official management, Protestants predominate almost invariably?
§ [No reply was given.]