§ MR. JASPER TULLY (Leitrim, S.)I beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland whether the attention of the Local Government Board has been directed by the Mohill Board of Guardians to the action of the select vestry in desecrating the graves of the Catholics buried in the Mohill graveyard, South Leitrim, by employing men to level the graves and cart away the crosses and headstones; what action, if 929 any, has been taken by the Local Government Board in the matter; and whether he is aware that a number of policemen were engaged in preventing the relatives of the deceased from entering the graveyard to examine the desecrated graves, and by whose authority the police were directed to pursue this course?
§ MR. GERALD BALFOURThe attention of the Local Government Board has been directed by the Guardians to the removal of tombstones and other marks from the burial ground at Mohill. The Board have informed the Guardians that the case was not one in which the Board had legal authority to interfere, and have suggested that the parties aggrieved by the action of the churchwardens should be guided by legal advice as to the proper mode of procedure. I understand that the burial ground is vested in the Representative Church body, and it appears to me that the parties aggrieved might usefully place themselves in communication with that body. With regard to the last paragraph, I am informed that the action of the police, who promptly reported the occurrences referred to, has been strictly confined to the preservation of the public peace.