Captain CRAIGasked the Chief Secretary, whether he is aware that on the night of Friday, 3rd March, as the last train was leaving Ennis for West Clare, four revolver shots were fired at the rear carriage, in which were several police officers and parties who had been engaged at the assizes; that several more shots were fired at the train at Willbrook, nine miles away; whether any arrests have been made; and can the police assign any reason for the outrages?
§ Mr. BIRRELLThe facts are practically as stated. No arrests have been made. The police do not assign reasons in such cases.
Captain CRAIGasked the Chief Secretary whether he is aware that an outrage was perpetrated on the residence of a farmer named Pratt, at Gurteenvaine, near Killenaule, county Tipperary, on the night of 6th March, when two pieces of iron piping plugged with wood at one end, and loaded with explosives and pieces of metal like bolts or nuts, and with fuse attached, were placed against his kitchen window, one of them exploding blowing in 2441 the window and doing considerable damage; whether any arrests have been made; whether the police can assign any reason for the outrage; and whether this is the same Mr. Pratt that was fired at in February?
§ Mr. BIRRELLThe facts are as stated. No arrests have been made. It is not the practice in such cases to assign reasons which can be only a matter of opinion. Mr. Pratt was fired at in February, 1906.