MR. PATRICK O'BRIENI beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland whether his attention was drawn to a prosecution recently brought against Mr. Patrick Comerford, of Kilkenny, by a water bailiff named Joseph Bannon, the charge being that Comerford and a boy were setting night 1359 lines to catch trout or eels in the River Nore; whether he is aware that Bannon failed to prove any offence, and the case was dismissed with costs; whether he can say who will pay the costs of this case; and, whether he will see that the Fishery Conservators will require the bailiff Bannon to pay, as a means of restraining him from bringing such prosecutions in future without being able to give proof of the charges.
§ MR. G. W. BALFOURI am informed that in this case the defendant was found with a night line under suspicious circumstances, and that the bailiff having failed to prove that the line had been used by Mr. Comerford, the case wase dismissed. The costs will be paid by the Conservators. As already stated, I have no jurisdiction over the Conservators, and no authority to act as suggested in the last paragraph.