§ MR. O'KELLY (Roscommon, N.)I beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the 491 Lord Lieutenant of Ireland whether he is aware that 18 prisoners have been remanded seven times by Mr. Brady, R.M., who has been holding a Court at Castlerea under the Criminal Law and Procedure (Ireland) Act, and have been taken from their beds at 9 or 10 o'clock in Castlebar Gaol and sent to Castlerea, arriving at midnight, and then kept in the police cells all night without a bed to lie on; whether he is also aware that one of the prisoners (Mr. T. Forde) was treated in this way, though he had been for some days suffering from illness; and whether this prisoner has been discharged on the report of an independent doctor; can he explain why the prisoners were not brought by the train which arrives at Castlerea at 11 o'clock a.m.; and why these prisoners are detained till midnight, and then sent back by train to Castlebar, to arrive about 4 o'clock in the morning, when other and more convenient trains are available?
§ MR. A. J. BALFOURI am informed that seven, not 18, prisoners, as alleged in the question, have been committed seven times for refusing to be sworn or to give evidence at the Castlerea inquiry. Such prisoners, who are to be again brought up, are released from prison about 9 a.m. and conveyed to Castlerea by the 10 o'clock train the same morning. In no case have these prisoners been kept in police cells. When it is necessary to detain any of them in Castlerea Police Barracks for a night a comfortable room is provided, with a fire. Timothy Forde was at once discharged from custody when it was found that he was suffering from a slight complaint. In every case where it was practicable to have prisoners sent back by the early train it was used. Any inconvenience suffered by these prisoners is solely the result of their determination to obstruct and impede the administration of the law.
§ MR. O'KELLYI now ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland at what hour of the night the police arrested Mrs. Owen Lavin, of Lisahurka; whether he is aware that Mrs. Lavin, who is in a delicate state of health and whose husband was at the time in prison, objected to go with the police, and asked to be permitted to wait till next day when she would be driven on a friend's car to Castlerea; whether 492 the police, the day or two following, came to Mrs. Lavin's house at 2 o'clock in the morning to arrest her mother-in-law, an old woman 75 years of age, and in bad health; and under what authority did the police act in these cases?
§ MR. A. J. BALFOURI am informed that the woman was arrested at 11.45 in the morning, that she made no complaint of delicate health, but on the contrary, seemed to be in excellent health. She offered to go with the police, and a seat was provided for her on the car. The police did not endeavour to arrest the mother-in-law at 2 o'clock in the morning. She had absconded. The police acted on the warrant issued by the Resident Magistrate.
§ MR. O'KELLYI beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland whether he is aware that Mrs. Crane, of Fairymount, County Roscommon, who was in a delicate state of health, having a baby only a few weeks old, was arrested at 1 o'clock in the morning, and brought to Castlerea; and if he can explain why her request to be allowed to go into Castlerea next morning, and have her husband accompany her, was refused by the police?
§ MR. KILBRIDE (Kerry, S.)I beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland what steps have been taken for the relief of distress along the seaboard from Cahirciveen to Kenmare; whether he is aware that a deputation of 300 labourers from the Ballinskelligs district, a locality remote from the facilities of the railway works, waited on the Cahirciveen Board of Guardians to demand work or relief; and whether the attention of the Government has been directed to the advisability of constructing a pier at Ballin-skellings, which would give employment to the starving people of the district, and tend to develop the local fishery?
§ MR. HAYDEN (Leitrim, S.)I beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland whether he is aware that Mrs. Shaskett was recently arrested on the De Freyne estate under an Inquiry Court warrant at midnight and brought into Castlerea in custody, the result being that from the fright she sustained she was unable to take any food until she reached home 20 hours after; and whether the practice of 493 making arrests at night has been sanctioned by the Government? I beg also to ask the right hon. Gentleman Whether he is aware that Edward Egan, of Carreenturpane, was arrested under an Inquiry Court warrant at midnight, and brought into Castlerea; that, after Mr. Egan returned, the priest had to be sent for to anoint him; and that he is now in a dying state, owing to the shock and the exposure of the night to which he was subjected; and whether the practice of making arrests at night has been sanctioned by the Government?
§ MR. A. J. BALFOURI am not in a position to answer these four questions, and must ask that they be put down for another day.
§ MR. J. O'KELLYWill the right hon. Gentleman make further inquiries into the allegations as to the midnight arrests?
§ MR. A. J. BALFOURYes; I will inquire into any special case brought to my notice. I have shown the hon. Member he is in error in the one case he has named.
§ MR. T. W. RUSSELL (Tyrone, S.)Can the right hon. Gentleman say whether the Plan of Campaign on the estate, in regard to which these cases have arisen, has broken down?
§ MR. SPEAKEROrder, order!