§ MR. HOGAN (Tipperary, N.)I beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland if he can say whether a force of 400 police are to be drafted into the town of Borrisokane, in the county of Tipperary, on the 7th August next, the day on which a number of persons will be tried at petty session there for driving cattle off the untenanted and grazing land in the district; and, if so, whether, seeing that the fact of such a force of police being there will only tend to exasperate the people instead of keeping the peace, he will take steps, under these circumstances, to keep the extra force of police away from the town on that day.
§ MR. BIRRELLThe number of policemen to be employed on the occasion in question has not yet been determined, but the police authorities will send a sufficient force to preserve the peace and keep order in the Court and its vicinity. The responsibility for preserving the peace rests with the police authorities, and I do not propose to interfere with their discretion in the matter. The hon. Member may rest assured that the police will not interfere with the people unless interference should be absolutely necessary.