§ MR. COURTHOPEI beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland whether he is aware that on the night of the l5th instant, at about11 o'clock, the house of Thomas Duddy, situated in the centre of the town of Athenry, was fired into, and that the fact that Duddy drove some of the police on his car contrary to the orders of the United Irish League in that town is assigned as the cause of the outrage; and whether, in view of the fact that several similar cases of firing into houses in Athenry have occurred during the last two years, he will increase the police force there, and will supply them with fuller powers for detecting and preventing crime of this character.
§ MR. BIRRELLThomas Duddy's house was fired into on the date mentioned. 1655 It is the fact that Duddy drove the police on his car a month ago, but the police have no reason to believe that this fact furnished the motive for the firing, and so far as they are aware the United Irish League has in no way interferred in the matter. The police force at Athenry Station has been increased by twenty-five men, making the present number forty-one. The police possess full powers for the prevention arid detection of crime. The state of the district has been and is receiving the closest possible attention.