§ Mr. NEWMANasked the Chief Secretary for Ireland on what date the Lord Chancellor of Ireland first ascertained that the name of Mr. J. K. O'Connor, of Castle-island, county Kerry, was included in the returning officer's published list of persons found guilty of corrupt or illegal practices?
§ Mr. BIRRELLThe Lord Chancellor informs me that there is now no means of ascertaining when the late Lord Chancellor became aware of the matter referred to in the question.
§ Mr. NEWMANasked the Chief Secretary what record there is of the removal of the name of Mr. J. K. O'Connor, of Castleisland, from the commission of the peace for the county of Kerry; if he will 2078W state why there is no record of the exact date; if he will state why there is a record of the exact date of the removal of the name of Mr. James M'Court from the commission of the peace; and what difference, if any, there is between the two cases?
§ Mr. BIRRELLThe Lord Chancellor informs me that the removal of Mr. J. K. O'Connor's name from the commission of the peace was directed by the late Lord Chancellor as a result of the declaration of the law made in the case of Rex (Matthews)v. M'Court, and accordingly the name was struck out of the official list of magistrates. Where a name is removed from the magistracy as the result of a legal disqualification a reference to the disqualification is made, but the date of the actual removal of the name is not always recorded. There is no reason why the data of the removal was entered in the one case and not in the other.