HC Deb 01 March 1889 vol 333 cc699-701
MR. M'CARTAN

asked the Chief Secretary whether his attention has been called to a paragraph published in the North Down Herald of 15th February last, wherein it is stated that— An eviction took place near Newtownards on Monday last (11th February). A broken-down man, a sick woman, and their children were turned outinto the snow; whether he is aware that this eviction took place on the townland of Bally-skeagh on the estate of Lord Londonderry, and was conducted under the personal supervision of his agent, Mr. Brownlow, J.P.; whether this eviction was due to the inability of the tenant to pay some arrears of rent; whether it was arranged with the agent that if the tenant paid £40 upon a certain date the arrears were to be extinguished and the proceedings stopped; whether the tenant, having been unable to pay on the day mentioned, offered the amount agreed upon a few days afterwards, but the offer was rejected, the eviction proceeded with, and the family thrown out in the snow; and, whether, considering this and other similar eases, the Government will bring in a Bill to deal with arrears of rent in Ireland?

MR. A. J. BALFOUR

It is true that an eviction took place near Newtownards on February 11, but the man evicted was not broken down, and is now, I understand, earning £1 a week in Belfast. The woman was not sick; was certified by the doctor to have nothing wrong with her, and she and the rest of the family declined to use a covered conveyance provided by the agents to convey them to the workhouse or wherever they might desire to go. The circumstances under which Mr. Brownlow acted were, I am informed, of the following character:—Nearly five years ago (April, 1884) proceedings were taken for two years' rent, but owing to illness in the tenant's family, the proceedings were stopped, and Lord Londonderry gave the tenant a donation of £5. Two years afterwards an ejectment was taken out for three years' rent, but withdrawn on a promise from the tenant to sell his tenant right. A year afterwards a second ejectment was issued for four years' rent, but further proceedings were delayed on account of repeated promises by the tenant to sell the tenant right. The agent then offered to take £40 in full discharge of the arrears of £79 9s. due, on the express condition that the tenant was to sell the farm. The tenant subsequently offered £40, but would not fulfil the conditions as to sale. A warrant for possession was obtained on December 13, 1888, but the agent consented to stay execution for a month, and, as a matter of fact, waited until the warrant was about to expire. It is evident that no Arrears Bill would meet a case of this kind.

MR. SEXTON (Belfast, W.)

Is it the fact that the sum of £40 was tendered by the tenant; that the doctor certified that the tenant's wife was seriously ill, but that she was nevertheless removed; and is it correct that the landlord the next day blew up with dynamite the house from which the tenant had been evicted?

MR. A. J. BALFOUR

I cannot answer the last Question, but the house, I presume, belonged to the landlord.

MR. SEXTON

It was built by the tenant.

MR. A. J. BALFOUR

The fact that the woman refused to use the covered conveyance offered by the landlord to carry her wheresoever she wished is, I think, a strong proof of the fact that she was not seriously ill. And I may remark that the period at which the eviction was carried out was deferred until the last day upon which it could be legally exercised.

MR. SEXTON

I am told that Dr. Parker, the Coroner, examined the woman and certified that she was very ill.