§ MR. SWIFT MACNEILL (Donegal, S.)To ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland whether he is aware that Mr. Maguire, the county inspector of the Royal Irish Constabulary for Fermanagh, who is resident in Enniskillen, is a brother-in-law of a prominent Unionist solicitor and a nephew of a prominent Unionist and Orangeman, the county surveyor of Fermanagh, who are both resident in Enniskillen; whether it is in accordance with constabulary rides and regulations that a member of the Royal Irish Constabulary, and especially the commandant of the constabulary of a county, should be stationed in a county in which he has near relatives, and, if not, on what ground is the retention of Mr. Maguire in this position justified; and whether steps will be taken for his removal to another district.
(Answered by Mr. Birrell.) It is the rule of the Royal Irish Constabulary not 632 to allocate an officer to a county in which he or his wife has relatives. The Inspector-General informs me that County Inspector Maguire's wife is a half-sister of the wife of a solicitor in Enniskillen, but that the solicitor in question is neither an Orangeman nor a politician. Mrs. Maguire is also distantly connected with the county surveyor's wife, the latter being a sister of the second wife of Mrs. Maguire's father, while Mrs. Maguire herself is a daughter of the first wife. The ladies referred to are natives of county Cork, and neither was resident in Enniskillen when the county inspector was allocated to the county. There is no rule which requires the transfer of an officer from a county in which a relative may become resident after his allocation to it. Moreover, rules apart, the Inspector-General considers that Mr. Maguire has performed his duties with efficiency and impartiality, and there is no reason why he should be removed to another county.