§ MR. T. L. CORBETT (Down, N.)To ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland whether he is aware that, since the conviction of thirty-six persons for various agrarian offences at the last Galway Summer Assizes, the special jurors who tried these men have been subjected to intimidation; and that the residence of Mr. O. McDermott Lynch, who was a special juror at the late assizes, has been at-tacked by armed men, who fired about a dozen shots through the doors and windows; and will he say what steps were taken to trace these men and to protect special jurors in the discharge of their duty.
(Answered by Mr. Bryce.) I am informed that it is not the case that the jurors who tried the thirty-six persons mentioned have been subjected to any direct intimidation. On the night of September 7th last, some months before I tame into office, three shots were fired into the house of Mr. Lynch, who was a special juror at the assizes, but the police, who closely investigated the matter, do not believe that his being a, juror was the cause of the firing. The police used every effort to trace the offenders, but without success. I am not aware that any special steps for the protection of jurors have become necessary.