§ MR. LEAHY (Kildare, S.)I beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland whether he is aware that Mr. J. E. Medlicott, J.P., Dunmurrey, County Kildare, attended at Monasterevan Petty Sessions on the 17th instant, and adjudicated upon a case in which his friend Forbes Johnston, Esq., Q.C., was plaintiff, and John Hannon, defendant, and which was for the recovery of possession of the latter's holding at Laghill, Monasterevan, County Kildare; if Monasterevan is one of the Petty Sessions Courts that Mr. Medlicott attends, when he last attended, and how often within the last five years; and will the Government deal with Mr. Medlicott in the same way as they did with Mr. James Byrne, Wallston Castle, Mallow, County Cork?
§ MR. A. J. BALFOURThe gentleman mentioned does not appear to have attended at the Monasterevan Petty Sessions within the last five years, but there is a record of his having attended there previously. He resides in and attends the adjoining Potty Sessions. There is, however, at present a scarcity of Magistrates in the Monasterevan district owing to the death of a Magistrate, and the attendance of the gentleman referred to in that district is of public utility. There is no reason to believe that he attended in the interest of any litigant, nor is there any analogy between this case and the other one referred to.