§ MR. M'CARTANI beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland whether he is aware that a strong feeling exists among the Governors of the Belfast Asylum in favour of having the asylums of Belfast and County Antrim managed under one Board of Governors, as suggested before the Committee of this House on the Belfast Asylum Bill: and whether, considering the advantages to the patients likely to arise from this course, the Local Govern- 879 ment Board will take into consideration the advisability of carrying it out?
MR. J. MORLEYI am informed that at a recent meeting of the Board of Governors of the Belfast Asylum a proposal to consider a scheme for the management, under the joint control of the Town Council and the Grand Jury, of the present city asylum and the new county asylum for Antrim was negatived by 10 votes to 7. Under the provisions of the Belfast Asylums Act (1892), which constitute the city and county separate asylum districts and requires the appointment of separate Boards of Governors, it would not be competent for the Board of Control to sanction the re-amalgation of the two districts; but the Inspectors of Lunatic Asylums, I may observe, are of opinion, so far as their judgment goes, that the amalgamation of the two districts would not be advantageous.