§ MR. J. O'CONNOR (Wicklow, W.)I beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, with regard to the fact that the last Return of the Irish Magistracy showed that there were, on the County Wicklow Bench, 103 Protestant and 13 Catholic Magistrates, and that the Catholics are nearly four-fifths of the population, what steps has the Lord Chancellor of Ireland taken to reduce the disproportion between Protestants and Catholics on the Wicklow 1241 Bench; and how many Nationalists has the Lord Chancellor appointed since August 1892, and how many Tories and Unionists?
MR. J. MORLEYSince the present Government came into Office 23 Magistrates have been appointed for the County Wicklow, of whom 15 are believed to be Roman Catholics, seven to be Protestants, and one a member of the Society of Friends. The Lord Chancellor has no knowledge of the political tendencies of any of these gentlemen, but he observes that the appointments of 17 of them were recommended to him by supporters of the present Government.