HC Deb 15 July 1915 vol 73 c1016W
Mr. DELANY

asked the Chief Secretary for Ireland whether the Estates Commissioners have received a memorial signed by the smallholders in the vicinity protesting against the sale to Lord Castle-town of the untenanted lands of Coolacurra which adjoin Lord Castletown's demesne at Granstown, Queen's County, and requesting the Commissioners to refuse to sanction the sale of 133 acres of untenanted land to one individual, to the detriment of a large number of uneconomic holders in the district; and can he say what course the Commissioners propose to adopt in the matter?

Mr. BIRRELL

The reply to the first part of the question is in the affirmative. As I stated in my reply to the hon. Member of the 8th ultimo, an agreement, signed by the owner and tenant for the purchase of 133 acres of Coolacurra, has been lodged with the Estates Commissioners, but it has not yet come up for consideration, and they are unable to anticipate their decision in the matter.

Mr. FLAVIN

asked what steps have been taken by the Estates Commissioners to reinstate in a suitable holding Jeremiah O'Keeffe, of Toor, Duagh, North Kerry, an evicted tenant of the Timothy Buckley estate; and whether, owing to the numerous representations made on behalf of O'Keeffe, the Estates Commissioners will now take action and give him a suitable holding?

Mr. BIRRELL

The Estates Commissioners have decided not to take any action on the application of Jeremiah O'Keeffe for reinstatement in a holding on the Buckley estate, county Kerry, formerly occupied by his deceased father and now in the possession of a tenant purchaser under the Land Purchase Acts, and they do not propose to provide O'Keeffe with a holding elsewhere.