§ MR. MACNEILL (Donegal, S.)asked the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, Whether it is true, as stated in the Press, that a meeting of the Irish Privy Council was held on Saturday last, in Dublin Castle, at which the Lord Lieutenant, the Lord Chancellor of Ireland, Lord Justice Barry, the right hon. S. Woulfe Flanagan, Mr. Justice Monroe, and the Attorney General for Ireland were present; with the exception of the Lord Lieutenant arid the Attorney General were all the other Members of the privy Council who attended that meeting judicial personages; and, would he have any objection to inform the House of the nature of the business for which the presence in the Privy Council of members of the 1150 Irish Judiciary was considered necessary?
§ THE ATTORNEY GENERAL FOR IRELAND (Mr. GIBSON) (Liverpool, Walton)Perhaps the hon. Gentleman will allow me to answer the Question. I answer the first and second paragraphs of the Question by saying "Yes." With regard to the third paragraph I cannot gratify the hon. Gentleman's curiosity, because the Members of the Privy Council are bound by their oaths not to disclose what takes place at their meetings. I may, however, mention, as the hon. Gentleman appears to fool an interest in the matter, that on Saturday last I went to Dublin. I arrived there at half-past 5. I reached the Privy Council at 6, and it was summoned to meet at that hour. The meeting took about three or four minutes; and it appears from the newspapers that the Attorney General for Ireland was sworn in and that some education schemes were signed. I cannot gratify the curiosity of the hon. Gentleman any further.