§ LORD J. JOICEY-CECILTo ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland if he will state how many of the persons who attacked Mr. Payne's farm, near Ballintubber, on the 10th May were employees of the Congested Districts Board and of the Estates Commissioners; and whether he proposes to take action in the matter.
(Answered by Mr. Birrell.) I am informed that about seventy-five labourers who were temporarily in the employment of the Congested Districts Board, and about thirty employed by the Estates Commissioners, were members of the crowd some of whom drove the cattle off Mr. Payne's farm. This fact has already been brought to the notice of the Departments mentioned. Twelve persons are being prosecuted for unlawful assembly on the occasion, and the case is sub judice.