HC Deb 13 March 1890 vol 342 cc694-5
MR. PETER M'DONALD (Sligo, N.)

I beg to ask the Attorney General for Ireland whether tin; following extract from the Midland Tribune and the Report of Dr. Moorehead are correct:— Dr. Moorehead, J.P., continues to visit the political prisoners in Tullamore Gaol, and finds them in fairly good health, notwithstanding the hardships to which they are subjected, and one of the worst is the system of isolation pursued with regard to them. This is to such an extent that from one end of the week to the other they can never see one another's faces: February 21st, 1890 visited the Gaol and Crimes Act prisoners, Rev. Father O'Dwyer, Messrs. R. J. Gordon, and P. A. M'Hugh. Mr. M'Hugh complained of the system of isolation pursued with regard to him, and demanded as a light to exercise with prisoners of his own class. So far as I understand, the isolation principle in prison discipline is only applied to the worst malefactors in convict prisons, and it is a punishment not contemplated by or implied in the Criminal Law and Procedure (Ireland) Act. G. A. MOOREHEAD, J.P. And whether such isolation shall continue to be applied to prisoners under this Act?

MR. MADDEN

I must ask the hon. Member to postpone the question. I have not yet received a Report.