§ Mr. SHEEHANasked the Chief Secretary whether his attention has been drawn to the fact that Mathias Dromey, of Johnstown, Macroom, was arrested and brought from a special court at Dunmanway on a warrant charging him with intimidating Thomas Seymour on 30th March; whether he is aware that this man Seymour is a caretaker on a farm from which Dromey has been evicted; that not one particle of evidence was produced to support the charge made against Mr. Dromey, that the magistrate who heard the case declared there was nothing to justify the charge, and that from what he knew of Mr. Dromey he did not think Seymour would be injured by him; and will he state why in these circumstances Mr. Dromey was arrested, and why a charge of this kind was not brought in the ordinary way before the petty sessions court by summons, without subjecting defendant to arrest and imprisonment beforehand?
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§ Mr. BIRRELLI understand that the proceedings in this case were at the suit of the caretaker Seymour. A warrant for Dromey's arrest was granted on his information, and the police were bound to execute it. Dromey was brought before a magistrate, who discharged him with a view to his being proceeded against by summons, the only evidence against him being that of Seymour. The case was to be heard at Macroom Petty Sessions on the 13th instant, but Seymour left of his own accord on that date, and has been replaced by another caretaker. There has been no more trouble since his departure.
§ Mr. SHEEHANasked whether any reports have been made to the constabulary authorities as to the conduct of an emergency man named Thomas Seymour, in charge of an evicted form at Johnstown, Macroom, from which Mathias Dromey was evicted; is he aware that this man forced open the door of the room in which Mrs. Dromey, wife of the evicted tenant, is at present lying seriously ill, at seven o'clock in the morning of 2nd April; did the constables in charge, namely, John M'Carthy and Patrick Broderick, or any one of them, witness this incident, and was Seymour partially naked at the time; has this man been drummed out of the Army; and, seeing the danger to the public peace and the menace to the health of Mrs. Dromey occasioned by his conduct, is it the intention of the responsible authorities to take any steps to have him removed from his present post of caretaker on this evicted farm?
§ Mr. BIRRELLI am informed by the police authorities that Seymour has left the farm, and has been replaced by another caretaker. In these circumstances, it is unnecessary to discuss the occurrence referred to in the question, about which there is some doubt, as the only eye-witness was a child. No door was forced open.