§ MR. WILLIAM JOHNSTON (Belfast, S.)I beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, if he can state the numbers of Protestant and Roman Catholic pupils respectively in the various Model Schools in Munster; and also the numbers respectively of the Protestant and Roman Catholic teachers in the small schools; whether all the Roman Catholic holidays are kept strictly in these Model Schools, causing the schools to be closed against all Protestant pupils; and, whether, as the Queen's Birthday is a holiday under the rules of the National Board, he can state the names of the Model Schools in Munster where it was so observed?
§ THE CHIEF SECRETARY FOR IRELAND (Mr. GERALD BALFOUR,) Leeds, CentralThere were 818 Protestant and 346 Roman Catholic pupils; 11 Protestant and 11 Roman Catholic teachers, in the various Model Schools in Munster at the close of last quarter. In cases where the teaching staff is exclusively Roman Catholic, the Model Schools are closed on Roman Catholic holidays; but where there are Protestant teachers on the staff (as there are in eight out of the 12 schools in question) the schools are in some instances kept open for pupils who may wish to attend; in other instances they are closed. Under the rules of the National Board, teachers are not required to keep open their schools on public or Church holidays. The Model Schools at Clonmel, Dunmanway, Limerick, and Waterford were closed on the commemoration of the Queen's Birthday, but the holiday was allowed to lapse in the case of the Cork Model Schools, owing to some uncertainty on the part of the teaching staff as to the day that might be substituted for the Queen's Birthday which fell this year on a Sunday.