§ MR. SLOANTo ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland if he is aware that the inhabitants of Armoy, county Antrim, have no water supply except a well situated beside a graveyard; if he is aware that the medical officer of health has condemned this water supply for years past; if several memorials have been forwarded to the Local Government Board from the ratepayers demanding a public inquiry into the whole matter; and whether, seeing that the Ballycastle rural council refuse to take action, he will grant the inquiry asked for.
(Answered by Mr. Birrell.) The Local Government Board inform me that there are eleven private pumps and one new public pump in Armoy. The medical officer of health has from time to time reported adversely on the water supply, and memorials on the subject have been forwarded to the Local Government Board by ratepayers. The Board have communicated with the rural district council, who have erected the new pump, which affords a good supply of apparently good water, and have invited tenders for another. In these circumstances, a 1199 public inquiry would not serve any useful purpose.