§ MR. GIVANasked the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, Whether his attention has been directed to the marked absence of crime in the county of Monaghan, as appears by the Returns of agrarian offences for the past six months; and, if so, can he inform the House on what grounds the county has been proclaimed under the Arms Act of the present Session?
§ MR. W. E. FORSTER, in reply, said, that the reason why the county of Monaghan had been proclaimed under the Peace Preservation Act was not because any large number of agrarian offences had been committed there, but because the Government were informed that a great number of people in the county were armed, having rifles and revolvers, which they carried frequently on the occasions of meetings and processions. Party spirit ran somewhat high in the county, and it was thought expedient to put a check on the indiscriminate possession of firearms.