§ MR. CLANCY(for Mr. FLYNN) (Cork, N.)asked the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, Whether he is aware that a protest against the removal of the head-quarter station of the Royal Irish Constabulary from Ballymote, County Sligo, has been extensively signed by the gentry, merchants, and traders of Ballymote and district; whether Ballymote is the most populous town in the district, is centrally situate at the junction of four baronies, has 12 important fairs in the year; whether the Quarter Sessions and Petty Sessions are held there, and has been the head-quarter Constabulary station for 50 years; and, whether Sir Henry Gore Booth offered the Government a site to erect a barracks on their own terms?
§ THE PARLIAMENTARY UNDER SECRETARY (Colonel KING-HARMAN) (Kent, Isle of Thanet)(who replied) said, that he was not aware that any considerable protest had been received from Ballymote against the removal of the head-quarter station. Ballymote, he knew, was a most prosperous town, and he was aware that most important fairs were held there. The reason the 9 head-quarter station was removed was because it was impossible to procure a suitable house, or a suitable site, on reasonable terms in the neighbourhood. He quite realized the importance of retaining Ballymote as a head quarter station; but, after having looked into the whole question, he was obliged to concur in the decision of the authorities to remove the station, as the terms offered by the landlords were in his opinion, most exorbitant.
§ MR. SEXTON (Belfast, W.)Is it true, as I am informed, that Sir Henry Gore Booth, the landlord of the town, offered the Government a house, which they themselves admitted to be suitable, and that the sum in dispute between Sir Henry Gore Booth and the Government was only £3 a-year?
§ COLONEL KING-HARMANsaid, he could not say what the exact sum was; but its amount was considerable.