§ MR. O'KELLYasked the Financial Secretary to the Treasury, Whether it is true that, in October 1884, a guarantee of £5 was paid for the establishment of a post office at the Cross Roads of Clashaganny for the accommodation of the householders of about twenty town-lands in that neighbourhood; whether, on the receipt of the £5 so paid, the authorities in Dublin established an office a half an English mile away in an inconvenient and unsuitable spot, on the borders of the waste farms of Roscommon; whether seven-eighths of the householders, including the original guarantors, protested by petition against the establishment of the office at any other place than the Cross Roads of Clashaganny; and, whether, under the circumstances, he will take stops to remove the post office to the Cross Roads?
§ THE SECRETARY TO THE TREASURY (Mr. H. H. FOWLER)Under a guarantee of £5 a-year a Post Office was opened on the 1st February, 1885, at the house of Mr. James Flanagan, in the centre of the townlandof Clashaganny, at a distance of between 300 and 400 yards from the Cross Roads. No pledge was given that the office should be at the Cross Roads. On the contrary, the guarantor was expressly informed that the Department could not undertake to secure the appointment for his nominee. After the establishment of the office a Memorial was received praying for the removal of the office to the Cross Roads; but nothing would be gained in point of public convenience by the removal of the office, and the application was not 1547 complied with. I understand that the guarantee will not be continued, and in that case I fear there will be no alternative but to close the office altogether.