HC Deb 02 August 1897 vol 52 cc85-6
MR. MACALEESE

I beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland (1) whether his attention has been drawn to the case of a woman named Margaret M'Manus, of Mullana-vanog, county Monaghan, an evicted tenant, who was prosecuted for alleged trespass at the Monaghan Petty Sessions, on Tuesday 27th July, although she alleged that she was engaged in negotiating with the Land Commission for the purchase of her farm under the Land Acts, and asked for an adjournment of the case for a month pending completion of the negotiations; (2) is he aware that the magistrates were equally divided upon the case, and unable to make any rule; (3) what stage are the negotiations in; and (4) will this prosecution be suspended to admit of their being perfected?

THE CHIEF SECRETARY FOR IRELAND (Mr. GERALD BALFOUR,) Leeds, Central

The facts appear to be correctly stated in the first paragraph. The landlord withheld his consent from the application of the evicted tenant for reinstatement, and consequently the Land Commissioners cannot entertain the application. The hearing of the case in which the defendant was summoned for trespass stands adjourned until tomorrow, when the prosecution will be proceeded with. The prosecution is at the suit of the landlord, and the Crown cannot interfere as suggested in the fourth paragraph, even if the Land Commissioners were in a position to entertain the application of defendant for reinstatement.