§ MR. T. P. O'CONNORasked the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, Whether a police hut still exists on the Island of Inchamekenna, county Galway; whether the hut is occupied by an acting sergeant and four sub-constables; whether the extent of the island which gives occupation to these five policemen is, including rock, swamp, and water, only forty acres, and if the whole population of the island consists, excluding the police force, of a single herd; whether this herd has over and over again expressed his complete freedom from any fear of harm to himself or anything belonging to him; whether the original cause of the erection of the hut was the unroofing of an old house, which had been vacated some time previously by the herd lest it should be thrown down by a storm, and whether this occurrence took place three years ago; and, whether it is true that the removal of the hut has been recommended by the resident magistrate and the police inspectors of the district?
§ THE SOLICITOR GENERAL FOR IRELAND (Mr. WALKER) (for Mr. TREVELYAN)The hut has just been removed from the island on the recommendation of the Resident Magistrate and District Inspector. It was occupied by a sergeant and three constables, who were there for the protection of a herd and his family, the only permanent residents on the island. The extent of the island is 109 acres. It does not appear to be a fact that the herd has expressed his complete freedom from fear. On the contrary, he made frequent representations against the withdrawal of the police. The police went to the island three years ago. At that time the herd's house had, in his absence, been maliciously knocked down, an offence for which £65 compensation was granted at Special Sessions. The reason of his having left the island at that time was not because he was afraid of his house being blown down, but because his boat had been stolen, and he could not remain on the island without the means of communicating with the mainland.