§ Mr. HUGH LAWasked the Chief Secretary for Ireland the present position of negotiations for purchase by the Congested Districts Board or by tenants of the following estates in West Donegal, viz., Adair, Stewart-Bam of Ards, Stewart of Horn Head, Olphert, Hill, Earl of Leitrim, and Marquess Conyngham, distinguishing between different portions of an estate where these are being separately dealt with?
§ Mr. BIRRELLThe Congested Districts Board inform me that the owners of the Adair and Hill estates have stated that they do not propose to sell. The necessary maps and documents are being prepared for lodgment in the case of Miss Stewart's estate (known as the Ards estate), and also in connection with the Olphert and Earl of Leitrim estates. No reply has been received from Mr. Stewart, of Hornhead House, to the Board's inquiry whether he was willing to sell his estate. The maps and forms in connection with the Glenties section of the Marquis Conyngham estate (including Downstrands) have been lodged and an inspection will be made as soon as possible. The Board understand that maps and forms in connection with the Rosses section of the estate are being prepared for lodgment.
§ Mr. SHEEHANasked the Chief Secretary whether the Estates Commissioners signified over a year ago to Denis Murray, an evicted tenant on the Keane estate, county Cork, that he was noted for consideration in connection with the allotment of such untenanted lands as the Commissioners may acquire in the county; whether another evicted tenant in the same parish was recently offered a holding in Ballyclough; why was a similar offer not made to Denis Murray; and when may he expect to be provided with a suitable holding in place of the one from which he was evicted and which is now occupied by a planter?
§ Mr. BIRRELLThe Estates Commissioners have received an application from Denis Murray for reinstatement in a holding formerly occupied by him on the Keane estate, and now in the occupation2218W of another tenant, and have noted his name for consideration in the allotment of such untenanted lands as may be acquired by the Commissioners. They cannot identify from the particulars given the other evicted tenant referred to by the hon. Member.
§ Mr. BOLANDasked what further steps, if any, have been taken to complete the purchase negotiations of the M'Gillicuddy Eager Estate, Glencar, and to secure the restoration to their holdings of the evicted tenants on that estate?
§ Mr. BIRRELLThe agent of the estate referred to informed the Congested Districts Board in April that he is in correspondence with the owner, who is in Australia, as to whether he is willing to sell his property through the Board. No further communication has been received from the agent since that date. As regards the evicted tenants on this estate I have nothing to add to my reply to the question of the hon. Member on 8th March last.
§ Mr. BOLANDasked whether the Estates Commissioners have had an opportunity of considering the statement put forward by Mr. Denis J. O'Connell, Caherciveen, with reference to the position of the tenants on the estate of Sir Morgan O'Connell, Ballycarberry; whether the tenants have been informed as to the result of the sale negotiations; and, if not, will steps be taken to give them the required information?
§ Mr. BIRRELLThe Estates Commissioners have received a copy of the statement referred to in the first part of the question. The Commissioners have been in communication with the Congested Districts Board in reference to the sale of this property, and the Board are prepared to make an offer for the entire estate, provided the vendor is willing to sell to the Board, and the purchase agreements lodged in the direct sale proceedings at present pending before the Estates Commissioners are dismissed. The Commissioners are communicating accordingly with the vendor, and, pending the settlement of the question as to whether the property is to be dealt with by the Board or by the Commissioners, the Commissioners do not propose to take any action in reference to the matters referred to in the question.
§ Mr. BOLANDasked whether the Congested Districts Board has taken any 2219W further steps to obtain the consent of Mr. Myles O'Mahony to the sale of his estate near Beaufort; and, in the event of an absolute refusal on the part of the landlord to sell, will the Board take immediate steps to exercise its powers of compulsory purchase?
§ Mr. BIRRELLConsideration of the question of purchasing this estate was postponed by the Congested Districts Board until their meeting, which has been fixed for to-day.
§ Mr. LUNDONasked whether the untenanted lands on the Barrington estate, at Coolnahila, Murroe, county Limerick, have been offered for sale to the Estates Commissioners; and, if so, how soon may it be distributed?
§ Mr. BIRRELLThe Estates Commissioners cannot identify these lands as the subject of proceedings for sale before them under the Land Purchase Acts?
§ Mr. LUNDONasked the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland if an inspection has been made of the lands of Ardvullen, Kilmallock, county Limerick, the property of Mr. Dickens, with a view to the purchase of the same for distribution among the deserving people in the district?
§ Mr. BIRRELLThe tenanted lands on the estate of Thomas Dickin and others, county Limerick, are the subject of direct sale proceedings from vendor to tenants under the Irish Land Act, 1903. The Estates Commissioners anticipate that the advances will be made and the holdings vested in the purchasing tenants at an early date in accordance with their purchase agreements. No proceedings have been instituted for the sale of any untenanted land on this estate to the Commissioners.
§ Mr. LUNDONasked the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, whether the Estates Commissioners were aware that a portion of the land claimed by Colonel Lowe, of Sunville, Ardpatrick, county Limerick, was tenanted until 1887, when the occupiers, who had been in possession of it for more than a century, were evicted because of the rack-rent; if they were, how did they decide in favour of this absentee landlord as against the general community; and what is the proper term or meaning of demesne lands?
2220W
§ Mr. BIRRELLThe Estates Commissioners received applications from three persons seeking reinstatement in the lands of Sunville Lower which the vendor desired to re-purchase under Section 3 of the Irish Land Act, 1903, and fully considered them before deciding, in the exercise of the discretion vested in them, to make an advance to the vendor for the repurchase of these lands. The Commissioners decided to take no action as regards two of these applications. In the remaining case the application has been noted for consideration in the allotment of untenanted land to be acquired by the Commissioners.
§ Mr. AUGUSTINE ROCHEasked the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland whether he has made further inquiries in reference to the holding on the estate of the late Sir John Arnott, at Coolfadda, Bardon, from which John Desmond was evicted, and for a portion of which a purchase agreement has been lodged in the name of Mr. James Craig, and in which he states he is residing on the same, and whereas he is not and never was; to ascertain if John Desmond was evicted for non-payment of rent and not as a town parks tenant; whether a fair rent was fixed by the county court judge on this holding in the name of John Desmond which, on appeal to the Land Commission, the tenant not contesting the matter owing to a family dispute, was dismissed; whether the interest of Miss Wheeler on this holding was purchased from her by John Desmond's father; whether the said Miss Wheeler was for a long time a charge on the ratepayers of the Bardon union, and how does the relationship of Mr. Craig to Miss Wheeler give him any claim to this holding; will he say why the Land Commission has taken no steps to have John Desmond reinstated in his holding; will the Land Commission make inquiries to ascertain if the agreement lodged in the name of the sub-agent, Mr. Craig, is really in the interest of the agent, Mr. R. E. Hodson, and in evasion of the provisions of Section 53 of the Irish Land Act, 1903; and whether, having regard to the provisions of this Section, the Land Commission will advance money to Mr. R. E. Hodson, the agent on this estate, for the purchase, in addition to the holding on which he resides, of the holding from which, at Coolfadda, the representatives of the late Daniel Murphy, deceased, were dispossessed on notice to quit since the 1st January, 1907, when the sale of the estate to the tenants was pending?
2221W
§ Mr. BIRRELLI have made further inquiries from the Estates Commissioners in reference to this matter, but they are not at present in a position to add anything to my replies to the hon. Member's questions on 16th May last as the estate has not yet reached its turn for inspection.
§ Mr. PATRICK WHITEasked the Chief Secretary for Ireland whether the estate of Fitzhenry A. Smith, Newtown, county Meath, will be ready for distribution this year; and, if not, whether he will state the cause of delay.
§ Mr. BIRRELLThe Estates Commissioners are not in a position to say whether these lands, which have not yet been vested in them, will be distributed this year.