§ MR. KENNYasked the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, If the attention of the Irish Government has been called to the continued encroachments of French fishing luggers on the south-west coast of Ireland, and especially on the coast of Clare, within the three-mile limit, as established by the Sea Fisheries Act, 1883, which carries into effect the International Convention concerning fisheries in the North and British Seas; is it a fact that, on or about the 24th of March last, a boat belonging to one of the Inspectors of Irish Fisheries was stolen off the beach at Kilcredane, and that the local coastguardsmen believe it was done by French fishermen, who came on shore and used it for the purpose of getting back to their lugger; and, if the Irish Government will at once send a gunboat or cruiser to those parts of Ireland to enforce the Convention and protect the interests of the Irish fishermen?
§ MR. CAMPBELL-BANNERMANNo complaint on this subject has recently reached the Irish Government. I understand one of the Inspectors of Fisheries has received a letter stating that encroachments have been made this year on the coast of Clare; but no case has been made out to necessitate or justify the sending of a gunboat or cruiser to that part of Ireland. The Coastguard reported the disappearance of a canoe, which was nominally the property of one of the Inspectors, and they have since reported that it has been found on the opposite shore.