§ MR. MOORETo ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland if the attention of the Lord 123 Chancellor has been directed, or will be directed, to the conduct of Mr. Patrick Egan, chairman of the district council, who lives fifteen miles from Thomastown, in attending there as aneex officio magistrate on the 5th instant and, after certain prisoners had been returned for trial by the bench, addressing them in Court in approval of their action; and will he say how often previously has Mr. Egan attended these petty sessions before this case, and what action will be taken.
(Answered by Mr. Birrell.) Mr. Egan is chairman of the Bill No. 1 Rural District Council, and, as such, is a magistrate for the Thomastown petty sessions district, which is situate within the rural district in question. The defendants in the case referred to were returned for trial at assizes. It is not intended to take any action in respect of the remarks made by Mr. Egan, in which he stated the grounds of his dissent from the decision of the majority of the Court.