§ MR. VESEY KNOX (Londonderry)I beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland—(1) whether he is aware that, contrary to the usual practice in places where party disturbances are likely to occur, the district inspector, head constable, and chief sergeant at Limavady are all of one religion; and (2) whether, having regard to this fact, he will direct the county inspector to make inquiries at Limavady, with a view to a prosecution of the persons who threw stones and other missiles at Dr. and Mrs. Houston during the recent riot?
§ THE CHIEF SECRETARY FOR IRELAND (Mr. GERALD BALFOUR,) Leeds, CentralWith regard to the suggestion in the first paragraph that 1443 Limavady is a place where party disturbances are likely to occur, I am informed by the Inspector General of Constabulary that no disturbances, properly so called, have occurred there during recent years, and there appears to be no reason for surmising that such disturbances will occur at Limavady in future. The disturbances that took place on the 22nd July, and to which the hon. and learned Gentleman refers, arose out of the recent Parliamentary Election for North Derry, and were fully dealt with by my hon. Friend the Attorney General in reply to the hon. Gentleman's previous Question of the 19th August. There was no rioting on the occasion, and the police have used their best exertions to obtain evidence on which to proceed against the persons by whom some eggs and two stones were thrown at Dr. Houston and his party. A statement was made to the police that a stone was seen to have been thrown by a particular individual on the occasion, but no legal evidence could be obtained to establish this. The District Inspector applied to the Magistrates at Petty Sessions, on the 13th August, for instructions as to bringing up this case, and stated the nature of the evidence forthcoming; but the Magistrates came to the conclusion that the evidence available was insufficient, and that it would not be advisable to have any prosecution, and further expressed the opinion that the police had done their duty in endeavouring to bring the offenders to justice. There does not appear to be any reason for sending the County Inspector to make inquiries, as the occurrences have already formed the subject of investigation and report by the District Inspector. This officer, I am informed, is a Presbyterian; the head constable and one of the two sergeants are Protestants. The other sergeant and acting sergeant are Roman Catholics, and of the entire police party at Limavady six are Protestants and eight Roman Catholics.