§ MR. FLYNN (Cork, N.)I beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland whether the Government is still determined to refuse the claims of the Irish Christian Brothers to some participation in the public funds provided for primary education in Ireland; whether he is aware that this Order of teachers possess over 70 establishments in Ireland, and educate 40,000 children of the working classes, and that the Royal Commissions of 1854 and 1868 reported most favourably of their system of education and its results; whether his attention has been drawn to the fact that the Brothers do not object to the inspection and examination of their schools, nor do they object to submit the schools and the results of the teaching to open and public competition; and whether, in view of the immense services rendered to the cause of primary and intermediate education by the Brothers, he is prepared to make some recommendation on their behalf to the proper authorities?
§ MR. A. J. BALFOURThe case of the Irish Order of Christian Brothers was fully dealt with in my reply to a question similar to the present one asked on 19th May, 1890, which is reported in Hansard, and to which I beg to refer the hon. Member. As I then stated, various Orders of Monks, including the French Order of Christian Brothers, find no difficulty in taking advantage of the public grants and putting themselves under the general regulations of the National Education Board, and I, therefore, do not see that it is necessary to make a special modification of the rules in favour of one Monastic Order.