1 22 Denny Street,
Tralee 3rd March 1916
11/16
PC Dept
The Tralee &Dingle Light Railway
Sir, I am obliged for your letter of the
16 Feb. and I now enclose one type
written copy of the memorial under
Seal of the Kerry County Council praying
for ad amendment of the Tralee
&Dingle Light Railway (Committee
of Management) order 1896 and
will thank you to acknowledge
receipt of same. Yours faithfully F.H. Downing The Clerk of the Council
Dublin Castle
Dublin 2 THE MEMORIAL
OF THE
COUNTY COUNCIL OF THE COUNTY OF KERRY
In the Matter Of The
TRALEE and DINGLE LIGHT RAILWAY or TRAMWAY COMPANY LIMITED.

TRAMWAYS (IRELAND ) ACTS.
TO HIS EXCELLENCY THE LORD LIEUTENANT & HIS MAJESTY'S
PRIVY COUNCIL IN IRELAND. 3 MEMORIAL
THE TRAMWAYS (IRELAND ACTS, 1860 TO 1896; THE TRALEE
AND DINGLE LIGHT RAILWAY ORDER, 1888; THE TRALEE AND
DINGLE LIGHT RAILWAY ORDER, AMENDMENT AND DEVIATION
AND ABANDONMENT ORDER 1889; THE TRALEE AND DINGLE
LIGHT RAILWAY (COMMITTEE OF MANAGEMENT) ORDER, 1896;
AND THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT (IRELAND ) ACT 1898.
TO HIS EXCELLENCY THE LORD LIEUTENANT
IN COUNCIL. THE MEMORIAL of the County Council of the County of
Kerry, the Owners of the Tralee and Dingle Light Railway
or Tramway Company, Limited,
SHEWETH AS FOLLOWS:- 1. THE Tralee and Dingle Light Railway of Tranway Company
Limited was by the Tralee and Dingle Light Railway Orders
1888 and 1889 made under the provisions of the Tramways
(Ireland) Act 1883 and the Acts incorporated with and amend-
ing the same authorised to and did construct, equip and
maintain and work certain light Railways therein mentioned
between Tralee and Dingle in the County of Kerry with a
branch line to Castlegregory in the said County which said
Light Railways are hereinafter called "the Undertaking". 2. IT was provided by Article 48 of The said Order of 1888
that, on the happening of the events in the said Article set
forth, the Undertaking and all the property of the Promoters
connected with it should become the property of the Grand
Jury of the County of Kerry, and that the Lord Lieutenant
might thereupon order that the Grand Jury appoint a Committee
of Management for the purposes of the Undertaking, and it 4 was provided by Article 49 of the said Order that every
Committee of Management so appointed should be constituted
in such manner and should have such powers with reference
to the Undertaking as the Lord Lieutenant might order and
the Members of the Committee should be paid by the Grand
Jury, out of the monies to be levied as therein provided
such reasonable remuneration as The Lord Lieutenant might
by General or Special Order, prescribe. 3. BY Order entitled The Tralee and Dingle Light
Railway ( Committee of Management) Order 1896 made under
the provisions of the said Order of 1888 The Lord Justices-
General and General Governors of Ireland ordered that the
Grand Jury of the County of Kerry should appoint a
Committee of Management for the purpose of the Undertaking
and that, subject to any order which the Lord Lieutenant
might from time to time make, the said Committee of
Management should be constituted and have the powers
with reference to the Undertaking thereinafter set forth
and inter alia as follows:- 1. (a) the Grand Jury shall as each Summer Assizes
appoint six persons who shall form a Committee
of Management for the purpose of the Undertaking. (b) The Grand Jury at each Summer Assizes shall
nominate one of the members of the Committee to be
Chairman of the Committee. (c) the Grand Jury may at any Spring Assizes
nominate a person or persons to fill any vacancy or
vacancies which may have occurred in the Committee
of Management as therein. (d) Every member of the Committee of Management
nominated as aforesaid shall be a cesspayer of the
County of Kerry owning or occupying rateable lands
and hereditaments in the guaranteeing area of a
minimum value of £20. At least one of such members
shall in addition be a Town Commissioner of Tralee and for this purpose the Town Commissioners
of Tralee shall at each Summer Assizes submit the
name of one of the Town Commissioners to the Grand
Jury who shall thereupon appoint such Town
Commissioner to be a member of their Committee. 5. At any ordinary or special Meeting of the
Committee any three members of the Committee shall
form a quorum. 8. The Committee ma appoint a Secretary of the
Committee. 10. The remuneration of the Committee of Management
and the Secretary shall until further order of
The Lord Lieutenant (which he is hereby empowered
from time to time to make) be as follows (that is
to say):- (a) the Chairman shall be paid such
salary as the Grand Jury at the Summer Assizes
may from time to time determine, not exceeding
£70 per annum. (b) Every other member of the Committee
of Management shall receive the fee of £1 per
annum (c) the Secretary of the Committee shall
be paid such sum as the Grand Jury may from
time to time with the approval of the Lord
Lieutenant direct. 34. If at any time hereafter it shall appear expedient
or desirable that any alteration should be made in
the constitution or functions of the Committee of
Management such alterations may be made by order of
the Lord Lieutenant on the application of the Grand
Jury. 4. BY virtue of the Local Government (Ireland) Act 1898 the
Undertaking and all the powers and duties of The Grand Jury
in relation thereto including those of appointing the Committee 5 of Management thereof became vested in the County Council
of the County of Kerry, your Memorialists. Your
Memorialists, in appointing the said Committee of Manage-
ment have since the year 1898 always followed the custom
adopted by the Grand Jury and ( in unison with all other
County Councils in Ireland similarly circumstanced) have
always appointed a mixed Committee consisting of one
member of the Urban District Council of Tralee and the
remainder partly of qualified members of their own body
and partly of qualified outsiders. The County Council has
always appointed a member of the Committee other than a
member who is also a member of the County Council to be
the Chairman of the Committee, and the County Council has
paid to the Chairman a salary of £70 per annum and to each
other Member of the Committee a fee of £1 per annum in
accordance with the provisions of Article 10 of the said
Order of 1896, which provisions they are advised are
mandatory. 5. RECENTLY, that is to say in the month of November
1915 on a Case stated by the Justices of Kerry for the
consideration of The King's Bench Division of The High
Court of Justice in Ireland entitled the King (
Moriarty) Complainant, Michael J O'Donnell Defendant, it
was decided by that Court that the payment of the
aforesaid fee of £1 per annum disqualified the recipient
from being a member of the County Council in as much the
said payment constituted the membership of the Committee
of Management an office or place of profit under or in the
gift of the County Council within the meaning of Article
12 (4) of the Application of Enactments Order of the
22nd December 1898 made under the Provisions of the Local
Government (Ireland) Act 1898 and that the Defendant who
was a member of the said Committee and of the County
Council was thereby disqualified from being a member of the County Council. The effect of this decision is that
The County Council can no longer appoint a member of their
own body to be a member of the Committee of Management of
The Undertaking, which is their property and for the
working and control and management of which they are
responsible and that the County Council can have practically
no voice in, but must entrust the working and control and
management of The Undertaking to outsiders and your
Memorialists are of opinion that they cannot, while this
condition of affairs exists exercise any real control over
or supervision of or discharge their duties in connection
with the Undertaking and The Members of the Count in
giving their decision in the said case expressed their
opinion that this state of affairs was a matter of grave
public importance and that a remedy ought to be provided. 6 . Your Memorialists are advised that the Lord Lieutenant
in Council has power under the Tranways Ireland Act 1883
and the Acts incorporated with and amending the same and
under the provisions of the said Orders of 1888 and 1896 to
make orders amending the said Orders and giving them relief
in the premises. YOUR MEMORIALISTS therefore pray that
the LORD LIEUTENANT in Council will
make an Order amending the said
Order of 1896 by annulling the
provisions of Article 10 (b) thereof
and in lieu thereof providing that
no fee or remuneration shall be
paid by the County Council of the
County of Kerry to, or shall be
received by, such members of the
Committee of Management as shall be
members of the County Council but
that the County Council shall be at
liberty to pay each other member of
the Committee, save the Chairman, a 6 fee of £1 per annum, or that such
other provisions as may seem
moot in that behalf may be made. F.H. DOWNING
Solicitor for the County Council of the County of Kerry 17 D'Olier Street, Dublin.
ALL NOTICES pursuant to the Tramways (Ireland) Acts in
relation to the said proposed Order may be served
on the said Solicitor at the said address
17 D'OLIER STREET,
DUBLIN. Sealed with the Seal
of the County Council
this second day of
March 1916 in the
presence of
Edmond Harty
Assistant Secretary
to the Council