§ MR. W. J. CORBET (Wicklow, E.)asked Mr. Solicitor General for Ireland, If 10 men were convicted at the Wicklow Assizes for resisting the Sheriff, by a jury taken from an array, which was subsequently quashed, and if, on application being made to the Judge to discharge these persons, on the ground 1409 that they had not been convicted by a jury selected according to the law, he stated he had no power to order the discharge, and that application should be made to the Executive; and, whether, under these circumstances, the Irish Executive will order the discharge forthwith?
§ THE SOLICITOR GENERAL FOR IRELAND (Mr. MADDEN) (Dublin University)In reply to inquiries which I have made on the subject of the Question of the hon. Member, I am informed that no Memorial has been sent in on behalf of the prisoners referred to. It is not for me to say what view the Executive may take of the case in the event of such a Memorial being presented.
§ MR. W. J. CORBETI would like to ask the hon. and learned Gentleman, whether his attention has been called to the statements made by officials—the Sheriff and District Inspectors—when these men were before the Petty Sessions Court? Mr. Kennedy, according to the report in the Conservative local journal, said, on cross-examination, he did not see any person struck.
§ THE LORD MAYOR OF DUBLIN (Mr. SEXTON) (Belfast, W.)Is it possible that the Government intend to keep in prison a number of persons convicted by a jury from a panel so vitiated that it was quashed at the same Assizes?
§ MR. MADDENAs I said before, if a Memorial is sent to the Executive they will consider all the circumstances.
§ MR. T. M. HEALY (Longford, N.)Can anybody in the whole world give the Crown more knowledge in a Memorial than they have at the present time? Do not they know that the panel was quashed, and that the 10 men are in goal; and, in the name of Heaven, what more do they want?
§ MR. MADDENsaid, the question must be submitted in a proper manner to the Executive for consideration.