§ MR. S. YOUNG (Cavan, E.)I beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland (1) whether he is aware that the Royal Commission appointed to inquire into the Belfast riots of 1886 recommended that the chief police officer of Belfast should have absolute control of the police force of the town and the sole responsibility of maintaining the peace, free from any magisterial or other control; (2) whether, notwithstanding this recommendation, the efforts of the police to keep the peace are still controlled by the local magistrates; and (3) whether it is the intention of the Government to give effect to this recommendation of Mr. Justice Day's Commission?
§ MR. ATKINSON (for Mr. GERALD BALFOUR)The Commissioners on the Belfast riots of 1886 recommended that the chief officer of police in that city should have absolute control of the police force and the sole responsibility of maintaining the peace, free from any magisterial or other control, save that of the Executive Government and the Inspector General. It is the practice of the chief officer of police in Belfast to consult the Lord Mayor and magistrates with a view to their co-operation in suppressing disturbance, and the Commissioners of 1886 noticed, with an expression of approval, the existence of a machinery for bringing into communication the police and the municipality. The second paragraph of the honourable Member's Question is based on a misapprehension; the efforts of the Belfast police are in no way controlled by the local magistrates. This Government, like those Governments which preceded it, since 1886, have not seen their way to introduce the legislation which would be necessary to carry out the recommendations of the Commissioners in their entirety. Most of the recommendations which were matters of police administration have been adopted.