§ MR. WILLIAM REDMONDI beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland if he noticed in the issue of the Fermanagh Mail of the 16th April, a report of a police inquiry held in Police Barracks No. 2, on the 5th April, in reference to a charge made against Constable Melley for an alleged breach of discipline, from which it appears that Constable Fitzsimons, who acknowledged himself to have been helplessly drunk on the 3rd March, while on special duty, was fined the sum of 10s., and removed to Cossycon, a short distance from Enniskillen; and that in reference to this same charge against Constable Fitzsimons, Constable Melley, who was in charge of him, and who was absolutely proved to be sober, was fined in the sum of 25s., and removed to Eshendarragh, one of the worst districts in the County of Fermanagh; and, whether he can explain the difference in the respective penalties inflicted, considering the relative disproportion of the offences.
§ MR. A. J. BALFOURThe Constabulary Authorities report that Constable Melley was more severely punished than the other constable; because in the opinion of the Court of Inquiry, who had all the facts before them, his case deserved it, he being a constable of 18 years' service, and in charge of the other, who had only four years' service. Each of the men was transferred to a station for which he was, in the opinion of the County Inspector, best adapted.