HC Deb 09 August 1888 vol 330 cc94-5
THE LORD MAYOR OF DUBLIN (Mr. SEXTON)(for Mr. ARTHUR O'CONNOR) (Donegal, E.)

asked the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, Whether it is a fact that a private inquiry affecting the Rev. J. M'Fadden was recently held in Derry Gaol; whether Father M'Fadden was allowed to be present at it, or made acquainted with the fact that the subject matter was being investigated; whether the reverend gentleman has since been deprived of facilities for writing letters; and, what was the substance of the complaint, what was the nature of the evidence, and what was the substance of the Report made?

THE CHIEF SECRETARY (Mr. A. J. BALFOUR) (Manchester, E.)

The General Prisons Board reports that the inquiry recently held in Derry Gaol was to ascertain whether any officer of the prison was in any way responsible for a letter having been passed out of the prison, and which the Rev. J. M'Fadden had previously admitted was sent out by him surreptitiously. He was not present at the inquiry, inasmuch as he was not personally concerned in the result. The deprivation of the facilities previously accorded him was not the result of this inquiry, but of an independent inquiry by the Visiting Committee, before whom, it was stated, he declined to appear.

MR. SEXTON

Was not Father M'Fadden's offence merely the writing of a letter declaring to be false the charge of the Chief Secretary that he had boasted that tenants able to pay their rents had not paid them; and for this offence was he not prohibited from writing letters, and forced to exercise in the disgusting hole which I described to the House the other evening, and was not the window of the cell blocked up so that not a breath of fresh air should get in?

MR. A. J. BALFOUR

I am afraid I have no information on these points. The offence was not in the contents of the letter, but in getting it passed out of the prison surreptitiously.

MR. SEXTON

Will the right hon. Gentleman inquire whether the punishment is not greater than the offence warranted?

MR. A. J. BALFOUR

I shall be perfectly ready to inquire if the hon. Gentleman will put another Question on the Paper. The information which I have relates only to the Question of which Notice was given, and that I have answered fully.