HC Deb 07 April 1892 vol 3 c867
MR. JORDAN

I beg to ask the Secretary of State for War what are the specific military or other grounds on which the Government have decided to remove headquarters from Enniskillen to Derry; have the Government yet purchased land in Deny on which they contemplate erecting military barracks, or are they only looking for it; if they do obtain ground, will they erect sufficient new accommodation for all the soldiers that may from time to time be stationed in Derry, and will the present old barracks there be disused for military purposes; if the old barracks be still used, will the new erection be for headquarters and the old for the men; and if the Government have been offered ground at Enniskillen on which to erect new barracks much cheaper than they can procure it in Derry?

* MR. E. STANHOPE

It is not desirable to state in detail the military reasons for changing the position of troops; but under all the circumstances of this case the Commander of the Forces in Ireland considered Londonderry in every way a more suitable station than Enniskillen for the headquarters of a battalion. The answer to the second paragraph of the question is, No. The remaining questions are mainly hypothetical, and are dependent on circumstances which have not yet arisen. I am, therefore, unable to answer them.