§ MR. HEALYasked the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, Whether he is aware that great inconvenience is caused by the refusal of the Sub-Commissioners to hold a Land Court in Derrygonnelly, county Fermanagh, as the tenant farmers have to travel ten to sixteen miles on foot with their witnesses to Enniskillen; whether, on the 23rd April, when a court was about to be held there, the landlord's solicitors objected, alleging that fever prevailed; whether a subsequent application was made on the 16th July, and refused; whether as the area of the Derrygonnelly Petty Sessions District is over 43,000 acres, with a population of about 6,000, and the town possesses a courthouse and hotel accommodation, a Commission can in future sit in that place; and, whether it is the fact that, in places of no larger size in Fermanagh, such as Irvinestown, Beleek, and Lisnaskea, Commission Courts are held?
§ MR. TREVELYANSir, the Chairman of the Sub-Commission writes as follows:—
The Assistant Commissioners did not refuse to hold a Land Court at Derrygonnelly. On the contrary, I stated that we were anxious to comply with the application of the tenants, and willing to attend there on any day convenient to the parties. It was then urged by several solicitors, acting, as I understood, on behalf of landlords and tenants, that fever prevailed. A letter from the district medical officer to the same effect was produced in Court, and the professional gentlemen engaged in the cases declined to incur the risk of attending at Derrygonnelly with their clients and witnesses. Under these circumstances, and in order to save the tenants inconvenience and expense, we fixed a day for the hearing of cases from the Derrygonnnelly district, and they were disposed of on the day appointed. No subsequent application was made on the 16th of July, or on any other day.Sittings of the Sub-Commission had been held, as stated in the Question, at Irvinestown, Beleek, and Lisnaskea.