§ MR. SEXTON (Belfast, W.)I beg to ask the Lord Advocate whether he is aware that Mr. James Muir, Inspector of Poor, Parish of Bothwell, who has in his charge two orphan girls, Rose and Mary Flannegan, now respectively 14 and 12 years of age, has removed the children from the Motherwell Workhouse, and refuses to inform their next-of-kin—namely, Mathew Flannegan, their uncle, and Elizabeth Flannegan, their grandmother, where the children are at present; and whether the uncle and grandmother, being desirous to bring up and educate the children, are entitled to have the custody of them?
§ * THE LORD ADVOCATE (Sir C. J. PEARSON,) Edinburgh and St. Andrews UniversitiesI learn that the grandmother of the children has herself petitioned the Supreme Court in Scotland for their custody. This being so, and the statements made in the question being more or less nearly related to that litigation, I must respectfully decline to give the hon. Member any opinion on the subject. It may, however, allay the hon. Gentleman's anxiety if I add that, according to my information, the elder girl is in domestic service in Scotland; that neither of them has ever seen either the grandmother or the uncle; and that the guardian ad litem of the younger child 1091 has reported to the Court, after an interview with her, that her determination not to go to Ireland is so strong that in his opinion nothing short of force would induce her to go.
§ MR. SEXTONThe right hon. Gentleman will see there is no question of going to Ireland. Is there any reason why the relatives—the grandmother and uncle—should be denied access? May I ask whether the question of the right of the relatives to an interview must depend on the result of litigation, or whether such can be granted?
§ * SIR C. J. PEARSONThat is a totally different question, of which I must ask the hon. Member to give notice.