§ MR. DALTON (Donegal, W.)I beg to ask the Attorney General for Ireland if his attention has been drawn to the account of the eviction of Mrs. M'Ginley at Meenacladdy, County Donegal, on 15th November last, at which, on a show of resistance by those inside the house, the police commenced throwing volleys of stones at the house, and continued doing so until the eviction was completed; and whether this action on the part of the police was sanctioned by him?
§ THE ATTORNEY GENERAL FOR IRELAND (Mr. MADDEN, Dublin University)From the Report before me, it appears that the police were violently assailed with stones from inside the house, and were placed in considerable danger. Some stones were then thrown by the bailiffs and by a few of the police in order to keep the assailants back from the window. In reply to the second paragraph, I have to say that the fiction of certain of the police appears to have arisen out of the circumstances of the moment, and to have been taken in self-defence.
§ MR. DALTONIs it the fact that at the trial of these boys the District Inspector stated that the whole thing had been premeditated and pre-arranged?
§ MR. MADDENI do not see that in the Report before me. Some of the police were not summoned for assault, and the case was dismissed by the Magistrates on the ground that the police were justified in the action they took.