§ MR. DILLONI beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland whether lie is aware that Sergeant Patrick Freyne, at present stationed in Loughglynn, County Roscommon, is a native of the district in which he is stationed; and whether this arrangement is in accordance with the practice of the Constabulary; whether his attention has been called to the fact that Sergeant Freyne is in the habit of calling at the houses of tenant farmers in his district advising them to pay their rents, and abusing them in violent language if they decline to accede to his request; whether such proceedings are part of the duty of a policeman; and whether he will cause Sergeant Freyne to be removed to some other district.
§ MR. ATKINSONSergeant Freyne is not a native of this district. He denies having acted in the manner alleged in the second paragraph. He may have advised those tenants with whom he was personally acquainted not to take part in an unlawful combination against the payment of rent, and pointed out to them the disastrous consequences which such a course of action might entail on them and their families. In so acting he would discharge the fundamental duty of a peace officer, namely, the prevention of crime and the protection of the subject. There is no intention to remove him from the district.
§ MR. DILLONIs it not the fact that the sergeant was born in a neighbouring parish within two or three miles of the place where he performs his duties, and has he not innumerable relatives there?
§ MR. ATKINSONThat is not the information I have.