§ SIR E. CARSON (Dublin University)To ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland whether the Commissioners of Education in Ireland have given notice that they will withdraw all grants from Corlea school after June 31st next, being a vested school under Church of Ireland management; how long these grants have been in existence; and whether the Commissioners of Education 1385 have made any arrangements for the religious instruction of the pupils attending Corlea school in the event of that school being closed and the children compelled to attend the nearest school, which is under Presbyterian management.
(Answered by Mr. Bryce.) The Commissioners of National Education inform me that by order of February 13th, 1906, they directed the withdrawal of grants from Corlea school from June 30th, upon the ground that it is no longer required, as there is sufficient provision for the education of the pupils at other national schools in the locality. The school is under Irish Church management, but is non-vested. It has been in connection with the Board since 1859. Thirteen of the pupils belong to the Irish Church, twelve are Presbyterians, and five are Roman Catholics. Two schools are available for the pupils, namely, Gillygooley, one-and-a-half miles distant, under Irish Church management; and Aughee, one-and-a-quarter miles distant, under Presbyterian management. As the latter school is a vested school clergymen have, under the Board's rules, "the right of access to the pupils of their own denomination for the purposes of religious instruction in the school.