§ MR. DUFFYI beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland whether his attention has been called to the cases of two prisoners undergoing penal servitude for life, one, Patrick Finnigan, in Mountjoy Prison, and another, Constable Muldowney, in Maryborough Prison, on conviction of complicity in murder; whether he is aware that His Excellency the Lord Lieutenant received petitions from all the public representative bodies, eleven in number, in the county of Galway, praying His Excellency to consider their cases; and whether, in view of the fact that they have spent eighteen years in prison, His Excellency will now give their cases his most favourable consideration with a view to the exercise of the clemency of the Crown.
§ THE CHIEF SECRETARY FOR IRELAND (Mr. WYNDHAM,) DoverThe petitions referred to were received by the Lord Lieutenant, who decided, so recently as August last, that the law must take its course. But if any new fact has transpired since then it can be brought before the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, who is the dispenser of the prerogative of mercy in that island.
§ MR. JOHN REDMOND (Waterford)Perhaps the right hon. Gentleman will add to his statement by saying that he will look into the facts of the case himself, and use his influence with the Lord Lieutenant in the exercise of the prerogative of mercy.
§ MR. WYNDHAMI am afraid I could not. It would be altogether outside my sphere.
§ MR. DUFFYBut is it not the fact that occasions when a Monarch ascends the Throne are deemed auspicious opportunities for exercising the prerogative of mercy? Will the Government not take into consideration the fact that these men have been in prison nineteen years?
§ *MR. SPEAKEROrder, order! The question has been answered.
§ MR. WYNDHAMAny facts should be laid not before me, but before the Lord Lieutenant, who dispenses the prerogative of mercy.