HC Deb 21 September 1915 vol 74 c339W
Mr. DANIEL BOYLE

asked the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland what stage the negotiations between the Congested Districts Board and the owner of the Carter estate in the barony of Erris, Mayo, have reached; if an offer to purchase has been made by the Board; and, if so, with what result?

Mr. BIRRELL

The estate referred to has been offered for sale to the Congested Districts Board, who are, however, unable, in view of the present financial stringency, to continue negotiations for the purchase.

Mr. COSGRAVE

asked the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland if he can state what interest a Mrs. Jennings had held in a farm at Liskelly, Aughrim, county Galway, portion of the Maher estates, recently purchased by the Congested Districts Board; and upon what grounds they have decided upon vesting this farm in Mrs. Jennings to the exclusion of the occupiers of uneconomic holdings in the immediate district?

Mr. BIRRELL

The Congested Districts Board's proposal for the purchase of the Maher estate was based on the understanding that an area of 199 acres odd subsequently found to be in the occupation of Mrs. Jennings was untenanted land. Mrs. Jennings, who had occupied this area for about thirty years, claimed a tenancy and refused to give possession. At the suggestion of the Lord Chancellor, the estate being in the jurisdiction of his Lordship's Court, the parties concerned have come to an arrangement as one result of which Mrs. Jennings will surrender some 49 acres of the land adjoining the tenanted lands and will purchase the remainder from the Board.