MR. PATRICK O'BRIENOn behalf of the hon. Member for South Meath, I beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord - Lieutenant of Ireland whether he is aware that the tenants on the estate of Richard T. Kellet, in the county of Meath, signed agreements to purchase their holdings in April, 1904; and that the landlord's brother, Vernon Kellet, also applied to purchase about 136 acres of untenanted land on the property; if so, will he say when was he made tenant; and whether, seeing that a number of tenants on the estate, having uneconomic holdings, have sent a memorial to the Estates Commissioners, praying that the land, nominally in Vernon Kellet's possession, be purchased by the Commissioners with a view to rendering their holdings economic, he will say what is the decision of the Commissioners regarding the prayer of the memorialists.
§ THE CHIEF SECRETARY FOR IRELAND (Mr. WALTER LONG,) Bristol, S.The tenancy in the holding for which Mr. J. Vernon Kellett has signed a purchase agreement was created in 1904. The memorial of the tenants will be considered before advances are made,