§ MR. MACALEESEI beg to ask the Attorney General for Ireland (1) whether his attention has been called to the case of Aughnacloy, which is a town under the Towns Improvement Act, 17 and 18 Vict., c. 103; (2) is he aware that by the last census the population of Aughnacloy was only 1,100, and that it has since then been gradually decreasing, although the Towns Improvement Act requires a population of 1,500 for its application; and (3) under these circumstances, will he state whether the town commissioners and the town court are legally constituted, and what authority exists in the place for the revision of the Municipal Voters Act?
§ *THE ATTORNEY GENERAL FOR IRELAND (Mr. J. ATKINSON,) Londonderry, S.My attention has been called to the case mentioned in the Question, and also to the fact that by the last census the population of the town of Aughnacloy only amounted to 1,100. I have no means of ascertaining whether the population has since decreased. The Town Improvement Act only requires that a town before it can adopt that Act should have a population of 1,500, but makes no provision for the case of the decline of the population below that limit after the Act has been adopted. Aughnacloy had a population of the prescribed number when it adopted the Act, and is, in my opinion, still governed by its provisions.
§ MR. MACALEESEWill the right hon. Gentleman answer the last paragraph of the Question?
§ *THE ATTORNEY GENERAL FOR IRELANDI have answered the last paragraph. This town is, in my opinion, still under the operation of the Act.
§ MR. MACALEESEwas understood to ask what was the proper authority in this case?
§ *THE ATTORNEY GENERAL FOR IRELANDThe same authority that exists in every case under the Towns Improvement Act.