HC Deb 29 June 1903 vol 124 cc809-10
MR. O'DOWD

I beg to ask Mr. Attorney-General for Ireland whether his attention has been called to the fact that the petty sessions clerk of Dromahair, county Leitrim, Mr. Stewart Gillmor, on the 24th July, 1902, swore an affidavit before the local commissioner for taking oaths, to the effect that he was tenant of lands in Dromahair known as The Acres since 1880; that at the Manorhamilton Quarter Sessions on 2nd June inst., Mr. Gillmor admitted having made this affidavit with the object of obtaining from the Land Commission an advance of £480, but that he was not the tenant then or previously; and that Judge Waters ruled that Mr. Gillmor was not the tenant, and gave a decree for the grazing rent to another man who was in possession of The Acres after the date of Mr. Gillmor's affidavit; and, if so, will he say what action the Law Officers of the Crown intend to take in the matter; and whether the advance obtained under such circumstances will be refunded.

THE ATTORNEY-GENERAL FOR IRELAND (Mr. ATKINSON,) Londonderry, N.

As far as I have been able to ascertain, the facts are as follows: That the vendor of The Acres, Mr. Fox, had previous to the 24th July, 1902, taken in grazing cattle, and put them on this field and another adjoining. On that day he let the field to Mr. Gillmor as he was clearly entitled to do, an arrangement having been made that later he should receive a certain proportion of the grazing money. The inspector of the Land Commission was fully informed of the circumstances. Mr. Gillmor was then negotiating for the purchase of The Acres, together with that of two other fields formerly in his possession. He described himself in an affidavit made after the letting, as tenant of The Acres, which in fact he was. The County Court Judge did not decide that Gillmor was not tenant or that he had sworn falsely, but merely that the grazing contract had been made with Mr. Fox, and the amount due for the grazing could only be received by him. Nothing has occurred, therefore, calling for the intervention of the Crown, nor should the advance be refunded.