§ MR. LEWIS (Londonderry)asked the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, Whether, having regard to the intended adjournment of the House on the 19th April for one fortnight, and to the fact that the Irish Arms Act expires on the 1st June next, the Government intends, before the Easter Recess, to bring in a Bill to renew such Act?
§ THE CHIEF SECRETARY (Mr. JOHN MORLEY) (Newcastle-on-Tyne)The hon. Member has given me private Notice of his intention to supplement this Question by asking what districts in Ireland are now proclaimed under the provisions of this Act? The answer to this inquiry is that proclamations against either the having or the carrying of arms are in force in every county and county of a city in Ireland, with the exception of the county of Antrim outside the borough of Belfast, the greater portion of the county of Armagh, about half the county of Donegal, the county of Down, except the barony of Newry; all the county of Londonderry outside the city, all the county of Louth outside Drogheda, half the county of Tyrone, and the whole county of Wicklow. As regards the main inquiry of the hon. Member, it is not the intention of the Government to bring in a Bill for the renewal of this Act before the Recess; nor would anything be gained by doing so. It is necessary that I should have an opportunity of discussing with the authorities on the spot whether any modifications are required in the Act in case of its renewal. That opportunity I hope to have in the course of the so-called holidays.