36. Captain O'NEILLasked the Chief Secretary whether the Lord Lieutenant, some time ago, directed that only those justices who had made four attendances in each of the three preceding years would be qualified to vote at an election for a clerk of Petty Sessions; whether these instructions have recently been cancelled or modified; and, if so, will he state the nature and effect of such modifications?
§ Mr. BIRRELLThe answer to the first paragraph of the question is in the affirmative, and to the second in the negative. 109 The rule requiring four attendances in each of the three years preceding the election as a qualification to vote at the election of a Petty Sessions clerk has always been subject to the condition that it may be modified when exceptional circumstances exist. His Excellency deals with each case on its merits, and a wrongful decision may be questioned in the Courts.