§ Mr. FETHERSTONHAUGHasked the Chief Secretary for Ireland whether he is aware that the areas to which he proposes by Clause 4 of the Dublin Police Bill to restore Sunday traffic in drink comprise four parishes with a population of about 20,000 people; that they have had total Sunday closing since 1878; that the Dublin Corporation Act, 1900, which added them to the city, expressly preserved the exemption from Sunday drink traffic in those areas; that the clergy, temperance societies of all denominations, and the respectable inhabitants are strongly opposed to the change; and is there any precedent in modern British legislation for the reopening on Sundays of public-houses where they have been closed on Sundays for over thirty years.
§ The ATTORNEY-GENERAL for IRELAND (Mr. Redmond Barry)My right hon. Friend is aware of the facts mentioned in the first three paragraphs of the question. Resolutions have been received in opposition to the proposed change, but there is a precedent for it. It is a great anomaly to have a small part of the Metropolitan Police District deprived of the power which is granted to by far the greater part of the area.