§ MR. PATRICK A. M'HUGH (Leitrim, N.)I beg to ask the Attorney General for Ireland, if his attention has been called to an article in the last issue of the Sligo Independent, in which it is clearly insinuated that certain persons who are to be tried at the Sligo Assizes, commencing on 7th March next, are guilty of the charges preferred against them; what action does he propose to take in regard to the said article; and, will he take care, in the interests of justice, that the causes of the accused are not prejudiced by an organ, circulating amongst the grand jurors and jurors by whom they are to be tried?
§ THE ATTORNEY GENERAL FOR IRELAND (Mr. JOHN ATKINSON,) Londonderry, N.I have not seen the article referred to, but I have been informed that comments on the cases mentioned, not at all calculated to promote the ends of justice, have been freely made in the local Press. I regret to say that as no indictment has been found 1233 against any of the accused, and no cause is pending in the legal sense, I cannot, until the assizes take place, take any steps to have any persons, who may by means such as those above-mentioned, seek to prejudice the trials which may take place or obstruct the ordinary course of justice, punished for contempt of Court, but I will inquire carefully into the matter, and, if necessary, take steps to have the place of trial changed if there should be a probability that a fair and impartial trial cannot be obtained in the local venue.