§ Mr. NEWMANasked the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland whether he was aware that the fact that a Union Jack was displayed from the office of the Board of Irish Lights in Sackville Street was alluded to in disloyal terms by speakers at a demonstration of the Nationalist section of the Irish party in Dublin on the 31st ultimo; whether he could state if the meeting was addressed by any member of the Civil Service, and the display of the national flag commented on in his speech; and, if so, whether it was in his power to recommend and enforce, in view of the present acute state of party feeling, the abstention of Civil servants from active participation in political controversy?
§ The CHIEF SECRETARY for IRELAND (Mr. Birrell)My attention has been called to a newspaper report of the speeches in question. One of the speakers was a junior clerk in a Government department. I understand that he disputes the accuracy of the newspaper report, but he clearly transgressed the well known though unwritten rule that Civil servants must refrain from taking an active part in politics. The heads of the Department concerned have his case under consideration and will take such action as may be necessary to secure that the rule is not broken in future.