HC Deb 26 May 1884 vol 288 cc1298-9
MR. SEXTON

asked the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, Whether, of the fifteen magistrates in the Petty Sessions district of Cookstown, county Tyrone, nine are Episcopalian Protestants, five are Presbyterians, and one is a Methodist; whether, in view of the fact that there is no Catholic magistrate in the district, the Catholic clergy and principal Catholic inhabitants have united in recommending to the Lieutenant of the county, and to the Lord Chancellor of Ireland, Mr. John Quin, Poor Law Guardian, of Cookstown, an extensive merchant, for appointment to the Commission of the Peace; and, whether Mr. Quin will be appointed?

MR. TREVELYAN

The Government are not aware of the precise constitution in point of religion of the Cookstown District Bench. However, it is not now the fact that there is no Roman Catholic magistrate in the district, as the Lord Chancellor has just appointed Mr. James Devling, of Cooks-town, a Roman Catholic gentleman, to the Commission of the Peace, on the recommendation of the Lieutenant of the County, Lord Charlemont, who, the Lord Chancellor informs me, has shown the strongest desire to redress the inequality in the representation of the different religious denominations. With regard to Mr. Quin, it is the case that his name has been brought before the Lord Chancellor, who will duly consider it.