§ MR. LONSDALE (Armagh, Mid.)To ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland whether the principal teacher of the Ballymote national school, county Sligo, was recently fined £5 by the Commissioners of National Education for making a speech at a meeting in connection with education at Ballaghadereen, county Sligo; and, if so, whether he will state the nature of the observations made by the teacher to which exception was taken by the Commissioners.
(Answered by Mr. Birrell.) The Commissioners of National Education inform me that they have fined this teacher £5 in respect of a speech made by him at Sligo, on October 27th, 1906, and have warned him that any repetition of such 577 conduct would lead to his instant dismissal. The Commissioners have forwarded to me a newspaper report of the speech, from which it appears that the teacher imputed improper motives to the majority of the Commissioners and to many of their inspectors in regard to the dismissal of teachers for inefficiency.