§ MR. FFRENCH (Wexford, S.)I beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland whether he is aware that the Boxwell evicted tenants have been out of their homes for over twenty years, and that on the 23rd of July last, the Estates Commissioners furnished the owner with the estimate of the price which they are prepared to offer for the estate; will he say whether the owner has accepted the offer of the Estates Commissioners; and, if not, will they consider the advisability of taking up the estate compulsorily and selling it to the tenants.
§ MR. BIRRELLThe Estates Commissioners inform me that in this case the owner has refused to sell at the price estimated by them, and that on the 20th November they published in the Dublin Gazette a notice of their intention to acquire the lands compulsorily under the Evicted Tenants Act.
§ MR. FFRENCHI hope the tenants will get back in time to sow the spring crops.
§ MR. BIRRELLI should be sorry to express an opinion. We will do our best.