§ MR. HEALYasked Mr. Attorney General for Ireland, Whether he has seen Mr. Clifford Lloyd's letter to Mr. D. Maloney, of Ennistymon, praising the brave manner in which he defended himself against his assailants, and regretting that "the shots he fired did not take effect;" whether, as Mr. Lloyd refers to "quivering men" who do not defend themselves against attack, he can state the number of Mr. Lloyd's refusals to grant arms licences to farmers in the past twelvemonths; and, whether any record is kept of the number of such refusals all over Ireland?
§ THE ATTORNEY GENERAL FOR IRELAND (Mr. W. M. JOHNSON)Sir, it was only while Mr. Clifford Lloyd was stationed in the Kilmallock district that he was licensing officer under the Arms Act. I cannot state the number of instances in which arms licences were refused there; but the suppression of outrage and the present peaceful state of that district show that his discretion was properly exercised in the matter. There is not, I understand, any record kept of the refusals of arms licences all over Ireland.