§ MR. SEXTONasked the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, With regard to a seizure of arms some time since in a blacksmith's forge at Tubbercurry, county Sligo, whether a person passing under the name of Bartley, who was at that time tenant of the forge, and professed to earn his living as a blacksmith, was in reality a member of the Constabulary Force named Woods; whether Constable Woods had been sent to Tubberycurry by County Inspector James Ellis French, and provided with money, for the purpose of renting the forge, and of assuming a character in which he could provoke offences against the Law by inducing the young men of the district to engage in illegal enterprises; whether Woods is still serving in the Constabulary Force in a certain part of the north of Ireland; and, whether the Executive sanction such a use of the police as that described?
§ MR. CAMPBELL-BANNERMANI must not be understood as admitting any of the allegations involved in this Question regarding an individual case when, in the interests of justice and the Public Service, I decline to answer the hon. Member's inquiry. I must, however, distinctly assert that the Irish Executive do not sanction any action on the part of the police intended to induce persons to engage in illegal enterprizes.