§ MR. D. SULLIVAN (Westmeath, S.)asked the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, Whether, on the death Mr. P. Connell, a former Coroner for one of the two Divisions of the County of Westmeath, no appointment of a successor was made; whether, although Mr. Fetherstonhaugh, the other Coroner, has now been dead nearly two months, no writ for the election of a successor to one or both has yet been issued; and, whether it is intended to have a Coroner or Coroners appointed for Westmeath?
§ THE PARLIAMENTARY UNDER SECRETARY (Colonel KING-HARMAN) (Kent, Isle of Thanet)(who replied) said: On the death of Mr. P. Connell the two Coronerships were united into one, and Mr. Fetherstonhaugh, the then existing Coroner, became Coroner for the whole County of Westmeath. The order of the magistrates which was made in 1878 did not make provision, by some oversight, for future arrangements; and, therefore, it became necessary to go through certain legal preliminaries before the appointment could be made. Those preliminaries are now in course of process, and as soon as they are completed the writ for the new election will be issued.