HC Deb 22 May 1905 vol 146 cc976-7
MR. CHARLES CRAIG

I beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland whether, at the recent eviction on Dursey Island, James Leary was stabbed by a policeman with a bayonet; and whether he has yet received a report on the conduct of the police on that occasion.

MR. WALTER LONG

I have received a full report of the proceedings on the occasion mentioned. Leary endeavoured to wrest a rifle from a head constable, and in so doing his hand was cut by the backsight or foresight of the rifle; but †See (4) Debates,cxxxvi., 26. there is no truth whatever in the statement that Leary was stabbed with a bayonet. Bayonets were not fixed.

CAPTAIN DONELAN

Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that on this occasion one of the islanders jumped into the sea and swam ashore to the mainland in order to escape the violence of the police?

*MR. PATRICK O'BRIEN

asked whether the great Naval Powers of the world were informed by the Admiralty of the great victory of the British Fleet in evicting old Healy on Dursey Island without loss of life, or injury to the "Storm Cock."

[No Answer was returned.]