§ MR. J. P. FARRELL (Longford, N.)I beg to ask the Secretary to the Treasury whether he is aware that his predecessor in office instructed the Board of Works to send Sir Thomas Deane to make an inspection of and report on the ruins of St. Mel's Cathedral at Ardagh, county Longford; whether the Church representative body refused to agree to vest those works as required before repairs could be undertaken, and will he now give a Return of the correspondence on the subject.
§ MR. AUSTEN CHAMBERLAINThe statement in the first paragraph is correct. The central Church representative body is willing to vest the ruins, but it cannot do so without the consent of the local Church body, which has not been given. As I stated on Monday, no correspondence has passed upon the subject.