§ CAPTAIN DONELAN (Cork, E.)I beg to ask the Secretary to the Treasury, as representing the Postmaster General, whether any and, if any, what arrangements have as yet been made with the Irish railway companies in relation to the proposed new time table for the Irish mail service?
§ MR. HANBURYNo arrangements have yet been completed, but the work is being proceeded with, and no avoidable delay will take place.
§ MR. SWIFT MACNEILL (Donegal, S.)I beg to ask the Secretary to the Treasury, as representing the Postmaster General, whether, in view of the inconvenience accruing to the inhabitants of Bundoran, Ballyshannon, and the surrounding districts from the inadequate 560 mail service, any steps have been taken to improve the said service; and whether the postal authorities have recently approached the Great Northern Railway Company on the subject?
§ MR. HANBURYInquiries are now being made on the question of improving the mail service to and from Bundoran, Ballyshannon, etc., and although no communication on the subject has yet been addressed to the Great Northern Railway Company, they will shortly be asked whether they are now able to run trains at suitable hours for the mail service. The Postmaster General regrets that he would not be justified in providing at the public cost a special train for this service.
§ MR. MAURICE HEALY (Cork)I beg to ask the Secretary to the Treasury, as representing the Postmaster General, whether the hour, 6.29 a.m. (Irish), given in the recent Return, with reference to the Irish mail service, as the time when the night mail from London arrives at Dublin, represents the hour of arrival at Westland Row Station; what the hour of arrival of the Cork portion of the same mail at Kingsbridge Station is; and what the time allowed between the two stations for the mail referred to under the new service will be?
§ MR. HANBURYThe hour, 6.29 a.m. (Irish), given in the recent Return as the time when the night mail from London arrives in Dublin represents the hour of arrival at Westland Row Station. The hour of arrival of the Cork portion of the same mail at Kingsbridge Station is 7.0 a.m. The time allowed between the two Stations for the mail referred to under the new service will be 31 minutes, as now.
§ MR. S. YOUNG (Cavan, E.)I beg to ask the Secretary to the Treasury, as representing the Postmaster General, whether he has received a resolution from the county Cavan Grand Jury, unanimously passed at the late Spring Assizes, urging the necessity of establishing a fast train service from Dundalk on the arrival there of the mail at 7.20 a.m. to Cavan, Enniskillen, Bundoran, and Belturbet, with a connecting train on the Cavan and Leitrim Railway, in order to secure an earlier postal delivery; and whether he will take steps in a matter of so much importance to accede to the prayer of the resolution?
§ MR. HANBURYThe Postmaster General has received a copy of the resolution referred to. The question of extending the benefit of the acceleration of the mails to Enniskillen and the surrounding district is receiving attention, and in the negotiation for the revision of the time tables of the main line trains, the Great Northern Railway Company will be made acquainted with the strong desire for improvement which exists, in the hope that they may be able to meet the wishes expressed by the hon. Member. The Post Office, however, would not be justified in putting on a special train, even to Enniskillen for the purpose, at the public cost, and the same remark applies with even greater force to the suggested connecting trains to Bundoran, and on the Cavan and Leitrim Railway.