§ MR. SUMMERS (Huddersfield)asked the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, Whether, in the interests of good feeling and good government, he will use his influence with his friends in the North of Ireland to put a stop to the practice of celebrating the anniversaries of the battles of Aughrim and the Boyne?
§ THE CHIEF SECRETARY (Mr. A. J. BALFOUR) (Manchester, E.)I am no particular admirer of the custom of celebrating anniversaries of a party character; and if all parties in Ireland were to cease, the practice it would, no doubt, be a great convenience to the Government responsible for the preservation of the peace. It is, however, due to the Orangemen of the North to say that, at a time when party feeling runs exceptionally high, the recent anniversary passed, so far as I know, in perfect order and without giving unnecessary offence.
§ MR. W. REDMOND (Fermanagh, N.)wished to know whether the fact to which the right hon. Gentleman alluded was not owing to the Orange feeling in the North of Ireland giving way to a strong feeling in favour of Home Rule?
§ [No reply.]