§ MR. JOSEPH DEVLINTo ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland whether, in view of the fact that a portion of the new city cemetery at Dundonald, near Belfast, has been allotted to the sole use of Catholics, he will state what person or persons are 913 named in the deed of allotment as representing the Catholic people; whether the allotment is final, or subject to revocation or alteration on the motion of either the corporation or the Government authorities; whether the jurisdiction of the Catholic authorities over the ground allotted is absolute or is subject to interference by the corporation; and whether, since the sole claim of Catholics is to maintain the burial in their allotments in accordance with the rites of their Church, and considering that they represent more than one-fourth of the population, the Local Government Board will direct that the interests of the Catholics of Belfast in this matter shall be safeguarded.
(Answered by Mr. Walter Long.) The corporation have by resolution allotted the cemetery among the different religious denominations. Their action has been sanctioned by the Local Government Board, and no deed of allotment is necessary. Subject to the provisions of Sections 177 and 183 of the Public Health Act, 1878, the cemetery remains under the jurisdiction of the corporation as the burial board of the district. The present allotment holds good until the corporation, with the consent of the Local Government Board, makes any alteration in it.