§ MR. SLOANTo ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland, if he can state the number of Royal Irish Constabulary and Dublin Metropolitan Police recruits that have been drawn from Clare, Leitrim, Galway, and Tipperary; how many, if any, are members of the United Irish League; and whether, in view of the recent remarks made by Judges of Assizes in these counties, he will consider the advisability of discontinuing recruiting for either of those forces in the counties named.
§ (Answered by Mr. Birrell.) The number of recruits now in training who have been drawn from the counties named is, in the case of the Royal Irish Constabulary, forty-seven, and, in the case of the Dublin Metropolitan Police, four. The police authorities have no information as to whether these men were members of the United Irish League or of any other political body. The regulations do not prohibit the admission of such persons. There is no intention of limiting the area from which police recruits are drawn.