§ MR. JORDAN (Fermanagh, S.)To ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland if he is aware that 1778 instructions have been given to all petty sessions clerks in Ireland that courts are to be held on Christmas Days and Good Fridays when the day fixed for petty sessions falls on these holidays; whether it is proposed to hold a petty sessions court in Derrygonnelly, county Fermanagh, on Friday next; whether arrangements have been made for the attendance of justices on that day so as to avoid inconvenience to the public who have been invited to attend; and if he will give instructions that these holidays are to be observed in petty sessions courts as in all other courts in the Kingdom.
§ (Answered by Mr. Birrell.) I am informed that no instructions have been sent to petty sessions clerks generally as to the holding of petty sessions courts on Christmas Day and Good Friday. In reply to a query addressed to the registrar of petty sessions clerks the petty sessions clerk at Derrygonnelly has been informed that it is not illegal to hold a petty sessions court on Good Friday, and that, if no magistrate should attend, the court should be adjourned according to statute.