§ MR. CHANCE(for Mr. MAURICE HEALY) (Cork)asked the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, Whether his attention has teen called to the statements made in The Cork Daily Herald of the 24th instant, with reference to the conduct of the police on the occasion of the arrest of Sub-Inspector Somerville and Constable Ward for the murder of the man Hanlon; whether it is true, as stated therein, that, at the Youghal Station, 1776 before the departure of the two prisoners—
All the policemen in the train (being the men under the command of Sub-Inspector Smith) raised a boisterous cheer for Mr. Somerville,and that, notwithstanding the efforts of Sub-Inspector Kerin, "the cheering was renewed again and again;" whether this demonstration was renewed at the Killeagh and Mogeely Stations, and at other stations along the line; whether the Regulations of the Royal Irish Constabulary permit bodies of the Force to cheer persons under arrest and charged with serious crime; and, what action the Police Authorities propose to take in the matter?
§ THE CHIEF SECRETARY (Mr. A. J. BALFOUR) (Manchester, E.)I am informed that the only foundation for these allegations is that shortly before the departure of the train one cheer was given by the men in the railway carriage. The Inspector General does not approve of this having been done, and he will so inform the men. It is not, as I am informed, a fact that the District Inspector had to use any efforts to restrain the men from further demonstrations, or that the cheering was renewed along the line.