§ Mr. T. M. HEALYasked the Chief Secretary for Ireland, whether the Lord 2460 Chancellor's secretary has now intimated that William Murphy and J. L. O'Brien, of Mitchelstown, have been appointed to the commission of the peace for county Cork; if so, will he say upon whose recomendation this was done; are these persons the secretary and president of the local Hibernians; is he aware that Mr. O'Brien is the holder of two licences and was twice convicted for breaches of the Licensing Acts; was the Lord Lieutenant of county Cork made aware of these convictions when he agreed to the appointment; and whether, seeing that there are sixteen magistrates already on the Mitchelstown bench, he will say what object was sought to be secured by these appointments and how many members of this order has the Lord Chancellor, against the wishes of the representatives of Cork constituencies, appointed in that county since the Coalition Government was formed?
§ The CHIEF SECRETARY for IRELAND (Mr. Birrell)The answer to the first part of the question is in the affirmative. The Lord Chancellor informs me that it is. not the practice to state upon whose recommendations appointments to the commission of the peace are made, and that he has no information in regard to the third, fourth and fifth parts of the question. He adds that there are not sixteen magistrates on the Mitchelstown bench, where the average attendance is five or six, and that since the formation of the Coalition Government he has not considered any applications for appointments to the commission in county Cork.