§ Mr. O'DOWDasked whether he is aware that the parish of Geevagh, county Sligo, contains several unsold congested estates, namely, those of Messrs. Utred Knox, Carnadargney, Hewson, agents Messrs. Robinson, Sligo, J. L. Powell, Tinnicarra, Boyle, and F. Frazer; whether the great majority of the holdings on these estates are valued at £6 and under, although they contain large tracts of untenanted land; whether the owners refuse to sell through the Congested Districts Board; and, if so, what steps it is proposed to take in order to have sales brought about?
§ Mr. BIRRELLThe Congested Districts Board have decided to make an offer for the purchase of the Knox estate, and expect to complete arrangements for the purchase of the Powell estate in a few weeks. The estate of the Misses Frazer has recently been offered for sale to the Board, and it will be inspected as soon as practicable. I understand that a number of holdings on the Knox and Frazer estates are valued under £7.
§ Mr. FLAVINasked whether the right hon. Gentleman can state why the road promised to be made in connection with land purchase in the townland of Aughrim, Newtowndillon, on the Blacker-Douglas estate, has not been, made; and whether he will state whether the Estates Commissioners have taken any practical step to carry out this work, in view of the needs of the people of the district?
§ Mr. BIRRELLThe Estates Commissioners hope to take the necessary steps in this matter at an early date.
§ Mr. FLAVINWill the right hon. Gentleman make representations to see that this work is carried out before the landlord gets his purchase money?
§ Mr. BIRRELLI will call the attention of the Commissioners to the matter.
§ Mr. DELANYasked the Chief Secretary whether he can state when the Turfarney portion of the estate of the late Arthur Owen, Queen's county, will be inspected, and also the conditions under which a tenancy was created of part of the property in question by the late Arthur Owen, one of the owners becoming tenant, of a large portion of the untenanted land; whether a memorial was received by the Estates Commissioners, subsequent to the late Arthur Owen's death, requesting them to purchase this holding for distribution amongst the occupiers of uneconomic holdings adjoining; whether an attempt is being made by another large landholder in the district to create a tenancy and get an advance for the purchase of this untenanted land; and can he state what course the Estates Commissioners propose to adopt in the matter?
§ Mr. BIRRELLI would refer the hon. Member to the reply given to his question on this subject on 21st March, 1910. The matters referred to by the hon. Member will be inquired into by the Estates Commissioners when this estate is reached in order of priority.
§ Mr. O'DOWDasked what steps, if any, it is proposed to take with regard to the action of Mr. John Mulhall, who refuses to sell his Knocknagee and Carricknagat estates, situate in the electoral division of Ballinakill, Sligo union, to the Congested Districts Board; whether the great majority of the holdings on this property are under £7 valuation; and whether the owner is the same gentleman who occupies the position of chairman of the General Prisons Board and who has publicly stated that he will not sell until the Act of 1909 is amended?
§ Mr. BIRRELLThe Congested Districts Board communicated with the agents regarding a sale of this property, but no reply has so far been received. A further communication will now be addressed to them. The Board have received information regarding the circumstances of the estate on behalf of the tenants, but they know nothing of the statement referred to.
§ Mr. O'DOWDasked whether the Coonela estate, the property of the late Mr. Jackson, of Ballintogher, Cullooney, county Sligo, and now in the hands of a trustee named A. Gillmor, J.P., Bally-mote, county Sligo, has yet been offered for sale to the Congested Districts Board; and, if not, whether, seeing that this estate, Coonela, consists for the most part of large grazing tracts, from which fourteen families were some years ago evicted, and that it is situated in the centre of a congested district, steps will be taken by the Board to acquire it, compulsorily or otherwise?
§ Mr. BIRRELLThe estate referred to has been offered for sale through the Congested Districts Board, and a decision will be arrived at regarding purchase as soon as practicable.
§ Mr. O'DOWDasked whether the Castleneno estate, situate in the electoral division of Ballinakill, union of Sligo, has yet been offered for sale to the Congested Districts Board?
§ Mr. BIRRELLThe Congested Districts Board cannot identify the property referred to in the question without fuller information as to the name of the owner and the townland comprising the property.
§ Mr. GILHOOLYasked the Chief Secretary whether the tenants on the Leahy estate, Castletown, Bere, county Cork, though having arranged for the purchase 523 of their holdings, are still paying their full rents; and, in view of the fact that these tenants are rack-rented, whether he will have arrangements made that in the future annuities of interest will be paid in lieu of the rents until their holdings are vested in these tenants?
§ Mr. BIRRELLThe Estates Commissioners cannot, from the particulars given, identify this estate as the subject of proceedings for sale before them at present under the Land Purchase Acts. The sales of the only estates of this name in county Cork which were the subject of such proceedings before them have been completed and the holdings vested in the purchasing tenants.
Captain CRAIGasked the Chief Secretary for Ireland whether Canon Geraghty, President of the Glynsk and Crosswell branches of the United Irish League, occupies a farm of 279 acres in a congested district of Glennamaddy union, county Galway; that, on the public recommendation of Canon Geraghty, a holding of land on the Pollok estate was allotted to a teacher named Michael Lennon, a man who holds no qualification as a tenant on the estate, while on the same estate fifty bonâ fide tenants still hold uneconomic holdings, and the postmaster of Gortnadieve was disallowed additional land to his one-acre holding because he was publicly denounced by the Glynsk and Crosswell branches of the United Irish League; and what action he proposes to take in the matter?
§ Mr. BIRRELLThe Estates Commissioners have no information as to the accuracy of the statements in the first part of the question, nor can they find that any person named Michael Lennon was allotted a parcel of land on the Pollok Estate. The application of William Naughton, who appears to be the person referred to in the last part of the question, for a parcel of land on this estate was fully considered by the Commissioners, and they decided to take no action on his application. They are not aware that he was publicly denounced as stated.