§ MR. J. P. FARRELLI beg to ask Mr. Attorney General for Ireland whether complaint has been recently made to the Castle as to the difficulty experienced in getting grand jurors to act since the passage of the Local Government Act; i and whether, as there are a number of large ratepayers who are Nationalists in each county available, he will direct the sheriff to summon such jurors in future to servo on grand juries of assize.
§ MR. ATKINSON (for MR. G. W. BALFOUR)No difficulty of the kind mentioned was experienced at the Winter Assizes, and none could be experienced at any other, as grand juries will only be assembled at the end of this or the beginning of next month for the first time to discharge criminal business alone. The Executive have no power to dictate to High Sheriffs as to how they 388 should discharge their statutory duties in the respect mentioned.