§ MR. H. CAMPBELL (Fermanagh, S.)asked the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, If it is true that a number of Orangemen assembled in the village of Brookeborough, county Fermanagh, on 7th December last, and, firing shots from guns and revolvers, indulged in offensive party expressions; whether a number of these men were summoned by the police, and tried at the Petty Sessions, Brooke-borough, on the 5th January last; whether, although the resident magistrate held that a primâ facie case had been made out, the other magistrates dismissed the summonses; and, is it true that the resident magistrate reported the matter to Dublin Castle; and, if so, what action has been taken in regard to his report?
§ THE CHIEF SECRETARY (Mr. JOHN MORLEY) (Newcastle - on - Tyne)The facts of this disturbance, and of the proceedings at Petty Sessions, are substantially as stated. The decision in the 1126 case was "informations refused," the offence alleged being an indictable one. Magistrates cannot dismiss in cases of indictable offences. The Resident Magistrate differed from the rest of the Bench in considering that there was a primâ facie case; but he informs me that he did not report the matter to Dublin Castle.