§ MR. FINIGANasked the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, Whether his attention has been called to the increasing number of evictions carried out in the Mohill Union, county Leitrim; whether eighty-eight evictions have been carried out in the Mohill Union since January last; whether it is true that Colonel Clements has evicted twenty-three tenants; Mr. J. Irwin, sixteen tenants; Mr. J. Madden twelve tenants; Colonel Forbes seven tenants; Mr. John Latouche nine tenants; Captain White six tenants; whether these landlords are justices of the peace; whether they have been assisted in carrying out these evictions by the Police and Military; and, whether the Government intends to adopt any proposal by which evictions may be suspended until the settlement of the Land Bill?
The following Question was put at the same time, on behalf of Mr. TOTTENHAM:—Whether the total number of evictions in the Mohill Union, county 634 Leitrim, since 1st January last has been fifty-three; whether of the tenants evicted four owed four years' rent; seven, three years' rent; four, two and a half years' rent; twenty-two, one and a half years' rent up to November 1880; whether three of the evictions were the result of private proceedings for debts unconnected with the landlords; whether it is the fact that Mr. J. Madden has carried out no evictions whatever since January last, or for a length of time before that date, and whether the following are the correct numbers of evictions in other cases, viz.:—Mr. Irwin three, Colonel Clements nineteen, Colonel Forbes two, Mr. John Latouche four; whether he has information which shows that in every case on Colonel Clements' and Mr. Irwin's estates the evicted tenants were re-admitted as caretakers, pending redemption; and, whether in many other cases, where three and four years' rent was due, the agents offered to accept one year's rent, which was refused, though amount of claim was paid immediately after eviction?
§ MR. W. E. FORSTERThe hon. Member for Ennis first gave Notice of his Question a week or two ago. Up to that time the total number of evictions in the Mohill Union, since January 1, was 49, not 88, as suggested in the Question of the hon. Member. The number of tenants evicted is also incorrectly given in the Question. The correct numbers are, on Colonel Clements' estate, 19 instead of 23; on Mr. Irwin's none, instead of 16; on Mr. Madden's 9, instead of 12; on Mr. Latouche's, 7, instead of 9; and on Captain White's, 3 instead of 6. I believe those gentlemen are Justices of the Peace. The Constabulary attended at all these evictions, and on three occasions a military force was present. This answer also covers most of the Question of the hon. Member for Leitrim. That hon. Member puts the evictions at 53 instead of 49. There may, however, have been some additional cases of evictions since the hon. Member for Ennis first gave Notice of his Question. In the case of a large number of these evictions, I find that as much as three years' rent was due, and in two cases no rent had been paid since May, 1876. The evicted tenants, with the exception of 12, were all re-admitted as caretakers. In one case, that of a tenant of Colonel Cle- 635 ments, the tenant paid. There has been no case taken by a landlord not acting as a landlord with a view to the recovery of debt.
§ MR. GIBSONasked if the Return which the right hon. Gentleman had promised would contain a column showing the cases in which tenants were readmitted as caretakers or tenants?
§ MR. W. E. FORSTERsaid, he did not know to what promise allusion was made; but he was putting on the Table that day a Return of the first quarter, which he thought showed what the right hon. and learned Gentleman wanted. He would give the Return for the current quarter as soon as possible that would include all evictions.