§ Mr. PATRICK O'BRIEN (for Mr. Duffy)asked the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland whether he is aware that the hon. Members for East and South Galway attended a meeting in Athenry on Sunday, 21st November, and that the object of the meeting was perfectly peaceable and lawful, it being to welcome home from prison two gentlemen who had been released that day; will he explain how many policemen were brought into the parish and lined along the street of the town on the occasion; and what was the cause of this display?
§ Mr. BIRRELLThe two men referred to in the question had just been released from prison after undergoing a sentence of 14 months' hard labour for having formed part of a band of armed and disguised men who made a murderous attack on a police patrol. Twenty extra police were brought into Athenry on the occasion to preserve the peace and prevent intimidation. The attitude of the crowd towards persons who had incurred their displeasure afforded abundant evidence of the necessity for the presence of this force.
§ Mr. PATRICK O'BRIEN (for Mr. Duffy)asked the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland whether he can state how many policemen are at present stationed in the village of Athenry and the police huts adjacent to the village; is he aware that the presence of so many policemen in the town where everything is at present quiet and law-abiding is a menace to the public peace and calculated to exasperate the people into acts of violence and disturbance; and whether, seeing that a general all-round settlement has taken place on practically all the estates surrounding the town, he will take steps to reduce the police stationed there to its normal level?
§ Mr. BIRRELLThere are at present 31 police in Athenry and 18 in the neighbouring police huts, and I am advised by the responsible police authorities that this force is absolutely necessary for the preservation of the peace and to prevent acts of violence and intimidation. I regret to say that the people of the town cannot all be described at present as quiet or law-abiding, and there are, unhappily, several estates in the neighbourhood on which no settlement has been reached.