HC Deb 18 March 1898 vol 55 c238
MR. WILLIAM JOHNSTON (Belfast, S.)

I beg to ask Mr. Attorney General for Ireland whether he has received from Mr. Thomas Stuart an affidavit with serious charges against the Crown Solicitor of Sligo; and, seeing that he agreed, under certain conditions, to hold an inquiry into these charges, will he state whether any such investigation has been made?

THE ATTORNEY GENERAL FOR IRELAND (Mr. JOHN ATKINSON,) Londonderry, N.

Many months ago I received from Mr. Thomas Stuart a statutory declaration containing most serious charges against the Crown Solicitor of Sligo. I referred the document to the latter gentleman for any explanation he had to give. He emphatically denied all the charges made against him, and gave what appeared to me a most satisfactory explanation. I thereupon informed Mr. Stuart that I could not under such circumstances hold any inquiry into the truth or falsehood of these charges, that the Civil and Criminal Courts were open to him for the redress to which, if what he stated were true, he was entitled. I never agreed to hold any inquiry, and no further investigation than I have mentioned has taken place.