HC Deb 26 August 1889 vol 340 cc482-3
DR. KENNY (Cork, S.)

I beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland whether he can now say if the prisoners James Mullett and Patrick Nally were visited by Mr. Thompson, Mr. Shannon, Mr. Walker, or any other agent on behalf of the Times, some time before their removal, as witnesses for the Times at the Royal Commission; whether each prisoner was brought into the presence of such agent without having been told the name of the agent or the object of his visit; whether this agent promised Mullet and Nally that each Would have his liberty, and would be put into a good position besides, if he consented to serve the Times"; whether he told Nally that his parents were Growing very old, and that they desired to see him before they died, and that Nally replied that They (his parents) would rather see him a corpse than to know of him swearing falsely against anyone"; whether he is aware that the agent for the Times afterwards, in February last, went to Mrs. Mullett, wife of James Mullett, and asked her to use her influence with her husband, whom he had seen, To swear what would be beneficial for the Times, that it would be of great benefit to her and to him, and that his (Mullett's) imprisonment would then cease at once"; and whether, considering the nature of these allegations, he will grant an independent inquiry by a Committee of Members of this House into all the circumstances in connection with these visits of agents of the Times to persons undergoing terms of imprisonment?

MR. A. J. BALFOUR

I have not yet received a Report upon this subject, and must, therefore, ask the hon. Member to postpone the question.