HC Deb 28 July 1881 vol 264 cc23-4
MR. DALY

asked the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, Whether it is true that on July 14th Mr. Michael Donovan, of Grenagh, near the city of Cork, was arrested at Blarney, Cork, under a warrant charging him With having been guilty as accessory of a crime punishable "by law, that is to say, unlawfully assembling with others by night, and maliciously assaulting dwelling-houses; whether he is aware that the aforesaid Mr. Donovan is a man of nearly sixty years of age, with a large family dependent upon him, and is one of the most extensive farmers in the vicinity; whether he has inquired whether the alleged charge against Mr. Donovan is accurate, and that it does not arise from vindictiveness; whether his attention has been called to Mr. Justice Lawson's words, at the Summer Assizes held at Cork on July 21st, in addressing the Grand Jury of the City of Cork:— The best address that a Judge can make to a Grand Jury on an occasion like the present, is when he has very little to say, which I am glad to say is my condition on the present occasion. Your business is almost nil. Two cases stand over from last assizes, and one very small one is to be sent before you which constitute the entire criminal business for these assizes of the City of Cork; and, whether, in face of the state of things deposed to by Mr. Justice Lawson, he still maintains the necessity of continuing to deprive the citizens of Cork of their constitutional liberties?

MR. W. E. FORSTER

, in reply, said, that the ground of the arrest of Michael Donovan at Blarney, County Cork, was correctly stated in the Question to be "assembling with others by night and maliciously assaulting dwelling-houses.'" Donovan was 55 years of age, and had a large family depending upon him; but he was a well-to-do farmer. The Government were satisfied of the reasonableness of the suspicion against him before deciding on his arrest. With reference to the Charge of Judge Law-son to the Grand Jury of Cork City, he should observe that his Lordship's remarks on the absence of criminal business were considerably modified by the statement that the Recorder had a short time before tried nearly all the prisoners in custody.