§ MR. PATRICK O'BRIEN (Monaghan, N.)I beg to ask the Attorney General for Ireland whether he is aware that a man named Charles Mitchel, residing at Shantonagh, County Monaghan, recently obtained a temporary retail spirit licence for consumption on the premises; and if so, by whose authority, and on what grounds; whether his attention has been called to the fact that Mitchel's applications repeatedly made at Quarter Sessions for several years were always opposed by the landlord of the place, the clergy of all denominations, and the inhabitants generally, on the grounds that the place being a thinly populated country district, a public house was not required, and, if allowed, would be a source of demoralisation amongst the people, and that the Magistrates of the district, with the concurrence of the County Court Judge, unanimously refused the application on every occasion; but that on the 20th inst., at the Castle-blaney Quarter Sessions, when Mitchel again applied to have his temporary retail licence made permanent, of the 18 Magistrates on the Bench, three were Resident Magistrates, two of whom came from other counties, and three others of the number came from other districts to support Mitchel's claim; whether his attention has been called to the expression of opinion by the Chairman that the Bench was packed in Mitchel's interest; and to the fact that 1186 he ordered the application to stand over till October next; whether he can say by whose authority, and for what reason, Resident Magistrates from other counties attended the hearing of this case; and whether the attention of the Lord Chancellor will be called to the conduct of the other Justices who attended from other districts?
§ MR. MADDENIt is the case that Mr. Charles Mitchel was recently, on the recommendation of the Lord Lieutenant, allowed by the Board of Inland Revenue to sell excisable liquors for consumption on his premises pending his application to Quarter Sessions on 20th June last, on which date this permission to sell expired. I am informed that the facts are not accurately represented in the second paragraph. The application was not opposed by the inhabitants generally. It was opposed by the landlord and two local clergymen of different denominations, but was favoured by another local clergyman. The place is a leading highway, and the applicant is a shopkeeper, doing a very large trade in the locality, which is represented to have a good average country population, and many of his customers were anxious that he should get the more extended licence. He holds already a spirit, grocer's, and beer retailer's licence. The application has not been refused on the previous occasions unanimously. On the contrary, it was carried by only very small majorities. Of the three Resident Magistrates present, one belonged to the district, the second had been recently in charge of it, and belonged to an adjoining district, and the third belonged to another adjoining district, in part of the police district of which the premises in question are situate. All the Magistrates who attend the Quarter Sessions were Magistrates for the County Longford, and had a right to do so. The Chairman is reported to have made use of no such expression as that attributed to him, but upon a point of law he decided that the licence could only be granted at the Annual (October) Licensing Sessions. The Resident Magistrates who attended are Magistrates for the County Monaghan, and therefore had a right to be present.
§ MR. MADDENYes, Sir, it is usual.
§ MR. FLYNNHas not the Lord Chancellor laid down the dictum that it is wrong for a Resident Magistrate to attend a Licensing Session outside his own district?
§ MR. MADDENThe ordinary Magistrates are assigned to particular districts, but a Resident Magistrate may attend generally.
MR. MAC NEILL (Donegal, S.)Did not two of these Magistrates come from a distance to ratify the decision of the Magistrates at the Sessions, and is he aware that the Lord Chancellor dismissed from the Commission of the Peace, Mr. James Byrne, because he went from Mallow to another district for the hearing of a case in which an appeal was granted. Why then, in this case, were two Resident Magistrates allowed to travel from one part of the county to another in order to decide a case in which the Crown was concerned?
§ MR. MADDENThe Resident Magistrates are all Magistrates for the whole of the county. There is no analogy between the position of an ordinary Magistrate and that of a Resident Magistrate. The latter can attend all Licensing Sessions in the county.
In reply to a further Question by Mr. T. W. RUSSELL (Tyrone, S.),
§ MR. MADDENsaid: I have given all the information in my possession.
MR. MAC NEILLWere not two Resident Magistrates imported into this county specially for the purpose?
§ MR. MADDENCertainly not.