HC Deb 19 April 1883 vol 278 cc620-1
MR. O'BRIEN (for Mr. MAYNE)

asked the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, Whether it is the fact that the Sub-Sheriff of the city of Dublin, acting upon the direction of the High Sheriff, protested against the order by which the regulation of admissions to the Green Street Courthouse was taken out of his hands by Mr. Jenkinson, and confided to the Chief Commissioner of Police; whether it is the fact that no intimation of this arrangement was conveyed to the City Sheriff until after cards of admission had been printed by him; and by what authority Mr. Jenkinson set aside an ancient privilege of the office of High Sheriff, despite the protest made on behalf of that officer; and, whether it is a fact that the charge of the juries in the Phœnix Park trials has been transferred from the City to the County Sheriff; and, if so, why there has been this departure from the rule that juries are given in charge to the Sheriff of the venue in which the trials take place?

MR. TREVELYAN

Sir, the circumstances connected with the trials now proceeding in Green Street Court House were such as to render it incumbent upon the authorities that special care should be taken to secure the due ac- commodation and convenience of those persons whose duty it is to be there, and to prevent any attempt for rescue or revenge. I have already stated that, as I am informed, the arrangements were put under the control of the Chief Commissioner of Police with the concurrence of the Sheriffs. I cannot say whether, prior to this, cards of admission had been printed by the City High Sheriff; but Mr. Jenkinson informs me that he received no protest on the subject. I am advised that the juries were properly and legally given in charge by the County Sheriff, as the assassination for which the prisoners were being tried had been committed in the county.

MR. O'BRIEN

If the County Sheriff was the proper person to take charge of the jury in this case, why was not the jury in the Hynes' case placed in charge of the High Sheriff of Clare, and the jury in the case of the Maamtrasna murders in the charge of the High Sheriff of Galway?

MR. TREVELYAN

These murders were not committed in the county of Dublin.