§ Mr. H. C. RICHARDS (Finsbury, E.)I beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland if he is aware of the refusal of the Irish Lights Commission to comply with the request of the inhabitants in and the traders within the district of Strangford Lough to provide a light or beacon in the lighthouse which has been erected more than half a century, and if any and what steps can be taken to compel the Irish Lights Commissioners to provide this light; and will he recommend an application to the Board of Trade for further consideration of the application, in view of the present destruction of the lighthouse at Donaghadee.
§ The CHIEF SECRETARY for IRELAND (Mr. G. W. BALFOUR,) Leeds, CentralSince this question was placed on the Paper I have been in communication on the subject with my right hon. friend the President of the Board of Trade, and am informed by him that the lighthouse on Rock Angus, Strangford Lough, was erected before the passing of the Merchant Shipping Acts, and before the present mode of managing lighthouses came into existence. At that time the Irish Lighthouse Board paid for local lights out of the dues on the passing trade (a practice much complained of), and this practice was discontinued by the 17 Merchant Shipping Acts of 1853 and 1854. The lighting of the beacon on Angus Rock would, I am informed, only prove a benefit to the local trade frequenting the Lough, and if carried out should not be done at the expense of the General Lighthouse Fund. With respect to the destruction of the Donaghadee lighthouse, it may be stated that a light of the same character as that shown from the lighthouse previous to its destruction has been exhibited since the night following the casualty.