§ CAPTAIN M'CALMONT (Antrim, E.)asked the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, Whether he is aware that a Mr. M'Garigle, general merchant, hotel proprietor, and courthouse keeper in Tulla, county Clare, has been boycotted by order of the local branch of the National League; whether Mr. M'Garigle was appointed to take charge of the court-house in 1883, on the resignation of a Mr. Colbourne who went off to America; whether Colbourne returned, after an absence of more than twelve months, and, if M'Garigle was not forthwith called upon to appear before the National League to answer a charge of "situation grabbing;" whether M'Garigle has entered into securities with the Grand Jury for a period of two years, and if his general business has been entirely ruined, whilst he and his family are subject to daily insult and annoyance; and, if the authorities will take any action to protect a public official and loyal subject of the Crown under such circumstances?
§ THE CHIEF SECRETARY (Mr. JOHN MORLEY) (Newcastle-on-Tyne)My attention was called to this case some considerable time ago, and the facts of it were pretty much as stated in the Question. I laid the case before my right hon. and learned Friend the Attorney General for Ireland, and he advised that there was no evidence of an actual breach of the law. I am glad to say that according to the last report which reached me there has been an improvement in the public feeling towards Mr. M'Garigle. He is receiving all necessary aid and protection.
§ MR. ARTHUR O'CONNOR (Donegal, E.)asked whether the right hon. Gentle- 452 man was aware that Colbourne lost his situation because he was incarcerated under the Coercion Act?
§ MR. JOHN MORLEYYes; I believe that is so.
§ MR. M. J. KENNY (Tyrone, Mid)Is it a fact that Mr. M'Garigle was summoned before the Tulla Branch of the National League as alleged in the Question?
§ [No reply.]