HC Deb 18 June 1901 vol 95 cc732-4
MR. JOHN REDMOND

I beg to ask the Chief Secretary a question of which I have given him private notice, namely, whether there was a renewal of the rioting yesterday in one of the shipbuilding yards in Belfast, in the course of which certain Catholic workmen were ill-treated, and an engine-house, where they were employed, attacked with showers of stones and bricks by a large crowd, and whether, finally, the Catholic workmen escaped from the building by the roof; whether there were any police present, and whether, in view of these continued disturbances in this shipbuilding yard, the right hon. Gentleman will order the police to patrol the yard.

MR. WYNDHAM

On seeing the newspaper paragraph on which I think the hon. Gentleman founds his question—

MR. JOHN REDMOND

The Times.

MR. WYNDHAM

Yes, The Times. I telegraphed to the Commissioner of Police, and he wires this morning as follows— On yesterday during meal hours some slight disturbances took place on the premises of Messrs. Workman and Clark and Messrs. Harland and Wolff, but no one was seriously injured. On Sunday evening a Catholic excursion returned to Belfast, when all was quiet, except at the Great Northern Railway Station. A young man named Robert Scott assaulted one of the excursionists, whose name appears to be unknown, by kicking him on the legs. The police promptly arrested Scott, and yesterday he was convicted of riotous behaviour and fined the full penalty of 40s., and was ordered in addition to find bail in two sureties of £25 each, or to be imprisoned for six months. On the morning of the same day (Sunday) a few missiles were thrown at a Catholic excursion boat going to Rothesay, but they failed to reach the boat. The Commissioner concludes by saying— The city is comparatively quiet. Yesterday's Nationalist papers allege that on Sunday some Gaelic Leaguers were brutally assaulted at the Giants' Ring, four miles from Belfast. A police report, now received, shows this to be an exaggeration. Some twenty Gaelic Leaguers went to the Giants' Ring to play hurley, when a man named Grey, on whose land the Giants' Ring is situate, warned them off. They refused to leave. A crowd of Grey's sympathisers assembled, and an altercation ensued, ending in blows. Stones and sticks were also used. Four of Grey's party were injured, but only one of the Leaguers was injured, and none were seriously hurt. Bernard M'Kenna, the Harbour Commissioners' employee, who was beaten on Tuesday, 11th, as previously reported, has identified his first assailant on the occasion, one Robert Mac Veigh, whom the police arrested. Mac Veigh was brought before the magistrates yesterday, and remanded without bail. On yesterday seven men and a woman were charged with riotous behaviour in different parts of the city on the previous day. The riotous behaviour consisted mostly of the use of party expressions. Six persons were fined 40s., and two of these were ordered to find bail in addition. The two remaining persons were ordered to find bail merely. The Commissioner at Belfast wires— All the labourers, including Catholics, have returned to work to-day at Musgrave Channel, with few exceptions.

MR. JOHN REDMOND

I am obliged to the right hon. Gentleman for the information he has given, one portion of which—namely, the return of the men to work—is satisfactory to everybody. The question I asked, however, was confined entirely to what took place in the shipyards yesterday, and what I want to know is whether any person has been made amenable for the disturbance in the shipyards. He mentions a number of persons made amenable for the disturbances in the streets. I want to know whether anyone was made amenable for what occurred in the shipyards, or does he allow them to pass altogether? Will he order the police to patrol the yard?

MR. WYNDHAM

I do not intend to allow these disturbances to go on. I gave the hon. Member the case of one man who was fined 30s. and bound over to keep the peace. I am still con- vinced that to order the police into the yards would not be the best process to adopt to put down the disturbances.

MR. JOHN REDMOND

The police were not present yesterday.

MR. WYNDHAM

I have no information on that point.

MR. PATRICK O'BRIEN

May I ask the Member for one of the Divisions of Belfast if he has any objection to the police going into his shipbuilding yards?

*MR. SPEAKER

Order, order! That question cannot be asked of the hon. Member for East Belfast.