§ 42. Mr. GINNELLasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department the present condition of a young man named Tierney, transferred before he was fit for removal from Dublin Castle hospital to Frongoch camp; there punished with others for refusing to betray his comrades; driven insane by cruelty which he was physically unable to bear, and removed to an asylum without notice to his wife; and what facilities are now afforded to friends for visiting him and promoting his recovery?
§ Sir G. CAVEThe orders given by the military authorities for Tierney's removal to Frongoch directed that he should be transferred, when medically fit to travel, and there is no reason to suppose that he was not fit when he was removed. He was one of several hundreds of prisoners placed in a separate camp for refusing to answer to their names, but he was not otherwise punished. The statement that his insanity was due to his treatment has been the subject of careful inquiry and is believed to be absolutely unfounded, and it appears from his wife's statement that he had had 2027 previous attacks of mental trouble. It is also totally untrue that he was sent to the asylum without notice to his friends. His wife visited him in the camp hospital on two successive days before his removal. Tierney is no longer a prisoner, but an ordinary private patient in the Denbigh Asylum, and his friends can visit him in accordance with the ordinary rules of the asylum. I regret to say that his mental condition has not improved.