§ Mr. CREANasked the First Lord of the Admiralty whether the battery at Kinsale, county Cork, with its drill shed and grounds, is to be discontinued as a centre for training the Naval Reserve; whether he is aware that the Naval Reserve is largely recruited from the fishermen of Cork county; and, as Kinsale affords the most convenient centre far training and mobilisation; whether he would reconsider the advisability of continuing this station as a Naval Reserve centre, having regard to the fact that its abandonment is certain to diminish recruiting to this force?
§ The FIRST LORD of the ADMIRALTY (Mr. McKenna)On 1st April, 1911, the 2327 whole of the Royal Naval Reserve will have come under the new system of training on board effective ships in commission, and the old system of drill on shore will have ceased. The Royal Naval Reserve Drill Battery at Upper Cove will then be no longer required for Royal Naval Reserve purposes, and will be closed on or before 31st March, 1911. Fishermen from Cork county will continue to be eligible for enrolment in the Reserve under the new system of training. Up to the present there has been no dearth of seamen as Royal Naval Reserve candidates.