MR. O'BRIENasked the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, Whether the extra police tax on the parish of Clooney, county of Clare, amounts to £91 per month; whether it is the fact that Mr. Clifford Lloyd declared in December last that, if the district continued peaceable, the extra taxation would not be levied; and, whether the peaceful condition of the district since that time does not warrant the remission of the tax and the withdrawal of the extra police force?
§ MR. TREVELYANThe cost per month for the extra police was at the rate of about half the amount stated. The sum of £91 was for a month and a-half, and included travelling expenses and marching money, which will not be again charged until the men are with- 616 drawn. The declaration made by Mr. Clifford Lloyd in December last was not of the character described in the second paragraph of the Question. What occurred was this. A respectable man, while standing at his own door in broad daylight, was fired at twice by men who went deliberately up to him for the purpose. A number of persons were about, and saw the shots fired, but no effort was made to follow or capture the men who fired them, or assist the police to trace or capture them. Mr. Clifford Lloyd invited the co-operation of the people with the police in the detection of this and other crimes, and such co-operation was promised, but no effort was made to give it. The promise made by Mr. Clifford Lloyd was that, if such assistance was given by the people of the parish, he would recommend to the Lord Lieutenant the reduction of the extra police, not the remission of the sum levied. Their presence is still required for the protection of the man whose murder was attempted, and they cannot at present be withdrawn.