§ MR. SLOAN (Belfast, S.)To ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland if he can state what is the accommodation for pupils at the original Cloncore National School, and what was the average attendance for the quarter ending 31st March last; how many pupils is there accommodation for in the new Cloncore School, and what was their attendance for the same quarter; how many pupils attending the new school came from others, and what were the names of the schools they came from; and if he can state what were the special circumstances which led the Commissioners to give a grant for this new school, what there was sufficient accommodation in the existing school under Protestant management for all pupils in the locality.
(Answered by Mr. Atkinson.) The original Cloncore School affords accommodation for eighty-seven pupils, and the average attendance for the quarter indicated was twenty-five. The new school (Cloncore Upper) affords accommodation for eighty pupils, and the average attendance for the quarter indicated was fifty-seven. Fifty-six of the pupils came from other schools, namely, Cloncore (old), Tartaraghan (1), Tartaraghan (2), Derry-lard, and Breagh National Schools. The exceptional circumstances connected with this school and which appeared to the Commissioners to justify them in granting aid were considered at more than one meeting of the Board. They are of too involved a character to set forth in a reply to a Parliamentary Question, and under any circumstances the Commissioners consider that no good object could be achieved by making them public.