HC Deb 11 March 1889 vol 333 cc1370-1
MR. T. M. HEALY

asked the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland if it was true that the Government have changed to County Fermanagh the venue of the prisoners charged with resisting eviction on the Olphert Estate in Donegal; had the Crown served notice on the Sheriff for a panel of 200 special jurors; was it the case that the special juror class in Fermanagh is so limited, that out of a population of 84,879 persons only 212, according to the 1887 Return, are special jurors in that county; and was it true that all the prisoners are Gaelic-speaking Catholics, and that there is no Catholic on the special jury panel, while a large number of the special jurors are Orangemen, and many are landlords and agents?

MR. A. J. BALFOUR

The reply to the inquiry in the first paragraph is in the affirmative. A notice was served on the Sheriff for a panel of all the special jurors in Fermanagh. The figures appear to be substantially as stated in third paragraph. I have no information as to the language or religion of the persons charged, or as to the politics, religion, or avocation of the special jurors.