HC Deb 06 March 1885 vol 295 cc280-1
MR. KENNY

asked the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, If he will state the number of Catholics appointed to the Commission of the Peace in county Clare within the past two years; if Colonel Lloyd, recently appointed Justice of the Peace for Knock District, county Clare, is a stranger and a Protestant; and whether he is aware that the district is almost exclusively Catholic; if it is a fact that the only property he has in the county is about sixty acres of land, which he rents; and, whether the Irish Government purpose to redeem their pledge of last year, to appoint to the Commission of the Peace in Ireland a just proportion of eligible Catholics?

MR. CAMPBELL-BANNERMAN

I understand 11 gentlemen have been appointed to the Commission of the Peace in the County Clare within the past two years, three of whom are believed to be Roman Catholics. Colonel Lloyd is a Protestant, and the district in which he will serve has certainly a very large Roman Catholic population; but it is inaccurate to describe him as a stranger, or as having only 60 acres of land. He has a residence, and farms about 250 acres in the county. The Lord Chancellor, with whom the appointment of county magistrates rests, is most anxious, whenever he properly can, to redress any religious inequality on the Magisterial Bench, and thus carry into practice the declaration made by the late Chief Secretary.

MR. KENNY

Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that he only farms 60 acres of land in the district, and that there are Catholic gentlemen who farm 1,000 and 2,000 acres of land who have been refused appointment by the Lord Chancellor on account of their religion?

MR. CAMPBELL-BANNERMAN

I do not know anyone—I am sure that no one would be—excluded by the Lord Chancellor on account of religion. If the names are submitted to the Lord Chancellor, he will inquire as to the most suitable.

MR. KENNY

Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that the Lord Lieutenant of the county refuses to send forward the names of Catholic gentlemen sent to him?

MR. CAMPBELL-BANNERMAN

If the names are sent forward direct to the Lord Chancellor, he will take care to inquire into them.