§ MR. T. P. O'CONNORasked the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, Whether his attention has been called to the following statements in the "Freeman's Journal" in reference to the affray in county Sligo:—That, as the armed party accompanying the process-server approached, a young woman ran forward to the police and said—
All we want are the processes and that you will leave the roofs of our cabins over us for another year,and that, then, the police suddenly drew across the road, fixed bayonets, and fired under instructions; that there was no stone-throwing, except by a few children, when the police then resorted to these extreme steps; whether the coroner adjourned the inquest, in spite of the protests of Mr. Mannion, the representa- 888 tive of the next-of-kin of the deceased, and without any application in open court; whether the coroner is correctly reported to have said on the question of adjournment:The coroner—I have received directions from the Clerk of the Crown, from the county inspector, and from the sub-inspector, to adjourn the inquest until Tuesday, the 24th;and, if a coroner is thus justified in acting under the directions and by virtue of a private agreement with the constabulary authorities?
§ MR. W. E. FORSTER,in reply, said, he had read the report in The Freeman's Journal. He had only to state that he had received official information confirming the statement of the police—that was to say, he had received statements from the resident magistrate and the county inspector, from which it appeared that the policemen were obliged to fire. The hon. Member asked whether the coroner was justified in acting under the direction of the constabulary authorities. Of course ho was not justified. The coroner acted on his own discretion.