§ MR. KENNYasked the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, If Mr. Denis O'Neill, of Rathfoland, Newmarket on Fergus, county Clare, objected, from the time the matter was first proposed, to the erection of a police hut and to police protection for his safety; if he petitioned the Lord Lieutenant for their removal; if the only crime in the district since October last 1637 consisted in the uttering the word "boycott" by certain persons, who were subjected to terms of imprisonment, some as long as three months, for this offence; if he can state from what source these extra police are paid, and at whose cost was the police hut erected; and, if he will state the grounds upon which extra police are still stationed in this townland of Rathfoland?
§ MR. TREVELYANI am informed that Mr. O'Neill did object to the erection of a police hut in the locality in which lie resides. The hut, when first erected, interfered with the entry to his lands, and on his petitioning the Lord Lieutenant for its removal it was placed on another site. In July of last year Mr. O'Neill's house was fired into, and since October last an organized system of intimidation was practised upon an individual who acted as a carrier for the police. The presence of the police is considered necessary for the maintenance of security and order. I have already informed the hon. Member, in reply to a former Question, that these men are not extra police under the Prevention of Crime Act. The whole cost and maintenance of the station is paid for in the same manner as that of any other county station, and is not levied upon the locality.