HC Deb 25 May 1900 vol 83 cc1301-2
MR. ARCHDALE (Fermanagh, N.)

I beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland whether he is aware that the late Dr. Donnelly, Roman Catholic Bishop of Clogher, on being requested by Lord Justice Fitzgibbon to state how it was proposed to spend the Roman Catholic portion of the Fermanagh Royal School Endowment, handed in a written proposal, dated 20th October, 1886, in which he said they proposed to divide the endowment into two equal parts, one half to go towards establishing a Roman Catholic intermediate day school in Enniskillen, where there was a manifest need for such a school; and will the Commissioners of Education now request the Commissioners of Charitable Donations and Bequests for Ireland to amend the scheme of 22nd May, 1891, so as to provide for the establishment out of the building fund of See The Parliamentary Debates [Fourth Series], Vol. lxxix, page 230. an intermediate school in Enniskillen, as requested by the petition presented by a number of the Roman Catholic inhabitants of Fermanagh in December, 1899, and as promised by the late Bishop.

THE CHIEF SECRETARY FOR IRELAND (Mr. G. W. BALFOUR, Leeds, Central)

The answer to the first paragraph is in the affirmative. The scheme which was ultimately adopted incorporated a general Roman Catholic governing body for the whole diocese, and did not otherwise give effect to this proposal. With regard to the second paragraph, an application of the nature indicated came before the Commissioners of Education in January last, when they arrived at the conclusion that there were no grounds for applying to the Board of Charitable Donations and Bequests to make any change in the scheme.

MR. ARCHDALE

Then, are the Roman Catholic inhabitants to have no portion of the endowment which was left entirely for them?

MR. G. W. BALFOUR

I am unable to say; I have nothing to do with it.