§ MR. G. MURNAGHAN (Tyrone, Mid)I beg to ask the President of the Board of Trade, whether he is aware that the railway station of Mountjoy, which formerly afforded travelling facilities to Omagh and a thickly-populated section of country, has been closed for a number of years; is he also aware that public meetings have been held protesting against the refusal of the directors of the Great Northern Railway Company of Ireland to re-open this station to the travelling public; and, will an effort be made to induce this prosperous railway company to give to the inhabitants of Mount joy and Omagh the accommodation so much needed?
§ MR. RITCHIEI have communicated with the Great Northern Railway Company of Ireland, who inform me that a station was originally provided there by the Londonderry and Enniskillen Railway Company, but it was found to yield results insufficient to justify its being continued, and it was abolished by that company upwards of 30 years ago. Some years afterwards (about 1872) another station was opened there, not far from the site of the former one, which was kept open until 1879, but, as the gross receipts did not amount to £100 per annum, it was closed. The directors have recently given consideration to a further application for the re-opening of the station, but, judging from previous experience and full inquiries which they have made as to the present probabilities of the amount of accommodation such a station would afford, they are of opinion that they would not be justified in complying with the request.