§ MR. DUFFY (Galway, S.)I beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland whether he can state if the Press was admitted to the special Court inquiry held at Athenry on the 22nd March and following days; under what statute the Court was held; and if there is any precedent for the action of the police in excluding the friends of the prisoners and the public from the magisterial investigation.
§ MR. WYNDHAMThe magisterial inquiry in this case was held on one day only, the 22nd March. Under Section 9, Sub-section 2, of the Petty Sessions Act, 1851, the presiding magistrate in all cases of proceedings for indictable offences is empowered to exclude the public if he 852 considers that the ends of justice will thereby be best answered. The charge against the accused in the present case was an indictable one and the pr siding magistrate was of opinion that in the interests of justice the public should not be admitted. This course is not infrequently adopted in the initial stages of proceedings in indictable offences of a serious nature.