§ CAPTAIN CRAIG (Down, E.)To ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland whether he can state if there are any qualifications necessary for the appointment of deputy-lieutenants in Ireland, and, if any, can he state if they were complied with in recent appointments made in Queen's County; and whether instructions were recently sent by Dublin Castle to His Majesty's lieutenant of that county instructing him not to appoint Protestants as deputy-lieutenants.
(Answered by Mr. Birrell.) The qualifications are prescribed in Section 33 of The Militia Act, 1882. Since the present Government came into office two appointments have been made to the deputy-lieutenancy of the Queen's County by His Majesty's lieutenant of the county with the approval of the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland. No information has been received which would raise any doubt as to the qualifications of the gentlemen so appointed. The reply to the concluding inquiry is in the negative.