§ MR. HALPINI beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland whether the police at Mullagh and Quilty stations, West Clare, are herding twenty-seven head of cattle, night and day, on the M'Mahon property, near Quilty, leaving the supervision of the remainder of their respective districts to the people themselves; and, if so, whether he will give instructions to the police authorities to have those men withdrawn from this herding so that the landlord should employ herdsmen to look after those cattle, and have the police attend to their proper functions.
§ MR. BIRRELLI am informed that police patrols visit a grazing farm on the M'Mahon estate for the protection both of the cattle on the farm and of the herdsman who has been threatened. It is not the case that the police act as herdsmen. The performance of their duty of affording the necessary protection in this case does not prevent them from performing their other duties in the district.