§ MAJOR JAMESON (Clare, W.)I beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, upon what authority have the Government been informed that the tenants on the O'Hara estate, Tulla, county Clare, were not in treaty for the purchase of their holdings when John Dwyer purchased it; and, can he ascertain the difference in the amount paid by Dwyer and offered by the tenants?
§ MR. GERALD BALFOURThe Government have not been informed that the tenants on this estate were not in treaty for the purchase of their holdings when Mr. Patrick, not John, Dwyer purchased the property. What I stated yesterday was that I believed the tenants were anxious to buy, but that I had no knowledge of their having made an offer of 13 years' purchase as alleged in the Question of the hon. Member for North Kilkenny, and that the sale to Mr. Patrick Dwyer was a private one, the terms of which were unknown to the police.