§ MR. KENNEDY (Sligo, S.)asked the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, Have the Government aban- 1729 doned the prosecutions in County Roscommon against John M'Nulty, Thomas Kenny, James Waldron, Michael Flanagan, and Andrew Flanagan, who were arrested, and returned for trial for alleged connection with the Plan of Campaign, in a house near Loughglynn; on what grounds the prosecutions have been abandoned; and, will the Crown indemnify the parties mentioned for false arrest and illegal imprisonment? The hon. Gentleman also asked, If the Government have served notice upon Mr. Jasper Tully, of The Roscommon Herald, in whose case the jury disagreed at the last Sligo Assizes, informing him that the Whiteboy prosecution against him has been abandoned; and, if so, for what reasons prosecution has been abandoned, and if the Crown will allow costs he incurred in defending himself?
§ THE ATTORNEY GENERAL FOR IRELAND (Mr. HOLMES) (Dublin University)(who replied) said: I hare directed that the prosecutions referred to in these Questions should not be further proceeded with. I have done so in exercise of the discretion vested in me, and after full consideration of the circumstances; but I decline to discuss, in answer to a Question, the grounds on which I arrived at this decision. I deny that there was either false arrest or illegal imprisonment; and it is not the intention of the Crown to make any payment to the defendants.