§ MR. D. MACALEESE (Monaghan, N.)I beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland—(1) under whose trusteeship or control the Courthouse at Newbliss, County Monaghan, is placed; (2) is he aware that it is occasionally devoted to the uses of an Orange Lodge, and that on certain anniversaries Orange flags and emblems are displayed from its windows; and (3) whether it is in accordance with the law to use a public building for demonstrations of a distinctly party character?
§ THE CHIEF SECRETARY FOR IRELAND (Mr. GERALD BALFOUR,) Leeds, CentralThe building in which the Newbliss Petty Sessions are held is the property of Mrs. Murray Kerr. One of the rooms of this building is used for the 527 purposes of Petty Sessions, and this room has never been devoted to the uses of an Orange Lodge, nor have flags or emblems ever been displayed from it, though another room has been so utilised on certain occasions. Under these circumstances the question raised in the third paragraph does not arise in the present instance.