§ MR. P. FFRENCH (Wexford, S.)I beg to ask Mr. Attorney General for Ireland whether any Act or decision exists to impair the force of the proviso in Section 84 of The Municipal Corporations Act, 1840, that "the Mayor shall during his mayoralty have precedence in all places within the borough," or that in Section 166 declaring that the Recorder shall have precedence "next after the Mayor"; and has it been held officially that the Lieutenant of county Wexford, or any other magistrate selected for the chair, has precedence on the Bench of the borough of Wexford before the Mayor?
§ THE ATTORNEY GENERAL FOR IRELAND (Mr. ATKINSON,) Londonderry, N.The Sections of the Statute mentioned are in full force, but they have not, in my opinion, any application to a Petty Sessions Court like that of Wexford, which is held for a Petty Sessions district, embracing the borough, but much more extensive than the borough. I am not aware of any official determination of the point having been arrived at, nor have the Government any power to determine the matter. If the Mayor considers that any legal right of his has been infringed, he can, of course, seek redress in a court of law.
§ MR. ATKINSONThat is a hypothetical question as to whether there are such cases, and I cannot answer that.