§ MR. BIGGARasked, Whether Mr. John Cullen and Mr. John Lynott have been in Kilmainham Gaol since October last on the charge of being suspected of Boycotting; whether they were summoned before the Petty Sessions of Manorhamilton on the same charge and unanimously acquitted by the magistrates; and, whether the Chief Secre- 1924 tary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland will at once order the release of Messrs. Cullen and Lynott?
§ THE ATTORNEY GENERAL FOR IRELAND (Mr. W. M. JOHNSON)Sir, Mr. John Cullen and Mr. John Lynott have been detained under the Protection of Person and Property Act since October last on reasonable suspicion of inciting to intimidation. They were summoned to the Manorhamilton Petty Sessions in the preceding August, and charged with two offences—one under the Conspiracy and Protection of Property Act, 1875, and the other for an unlawful assembly. The magistrates dismissed the former, and made no rule in the latter case. These offences were not the occasion of the detention of these persons under the Protection of Person and Property Act. Their cases were duly re-considered as required by the Act, and the decision was that their detention should be continued.