§ MR. LONSDALETo ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland whether his attention has been called to the fact that four men who were committed for trial on a charge of being concerned in an outrage near Ardrahan, county Galway, when Mr. and Mrs. F. Shawe-Taylor were fired upon by a gang of men and narrowly escaped with their lives, were loudly cheered by the people when they were taken away by the police; and whether the place in which this occurred is one of the districts where the operation of the Criminal Law and Procedure (Ireland) Act, 1887, has been recently suspended.
(Answered by Mr. Bryce.) My attention had not been called to this incident of the cheering, which occurred on December 11th last, before I took office. I am now, however, informed that some people who were at Ardrahan fair cheered on the occasion mentioned. The Answer to the latter inquiry is in the affirmative. The men are awaiting trial.