§ Mr. LUNNasked the Chief Secretary whether William Conway and Edward Potter were convicted of the murder of Lieutenant Angliss on the evidence of two witnesses; whether one of these witnesses was a servant in the house, whose account of the tragedy was excusably confused and contradictory; whether the other witness admitted that he was frequently drunk; whether he had been charged with disorderly conduct and also with assault and obscene language; and whether he had previously identified as having been concerned with the murder of Lieutenant Angliss two men who were subsequently proved to have been in gaol at the time?
§ Sir H. GREENWOODI would refer the hon. Member to the answer which I gave on the 17th instant in reply to similar questions by the Noble Lord the Member for Nottingham South (Lord H. Cavendish-Bentinck), and the hon. Member for the Spen Valley Division (Mr. Myers). I would only add that it would, in my view, be most improper for me to discuss in this House the nature of the evidence on which this or any other Court based its finding.
§ Mr. MOSLEYasked the Chief Secretary whether he will make inquiries as to the circumstances under which uniformed men entered the house at Moycullen of John Geoghegan, took him out of bed, and shot him?
§ Sir H. GREENWOODThe answer is that an inquiry is being held.
§ Mr. T. GRIFFITHSasked the Chief Secretary whether inquiries have been held in regard to the deaths of Miss O'Connell of Ardfert on 5th November, James Lodby and Cornelius Delaney at Cashel on 18th December, W. M. Delaney near Cashel on 10th December, J. Hynan at Emly on 21st December, Mrs. Ryan at Callan on 23rd December, and Andrew Moynihan at Kattimore, county Kerry, on 23rd December?
§ Sir H. GREENWOODMilitary inquiries in lieu of inquests have been held in each of these cases with the exception of the case of Miss O'Connell, who is believed to have been killed in an ambush of the police at Ardfert, county Kerry, on the 8th November last. The 1431W Competent Military Authority states that her death and that of other persons killed in the same ambush was not reported to him or to the police at the time, and their bodies were disposed of by their friends before the police knew of their deaths. The Competent Military Authority had therefore no opportunity of holding an inquiry in lieu of inquest.
§ Mr. R. RICHARDSONasked the Chief Secretary if his attention has been drawn to the case of John Moran, Drogheda, whose home was entered in the early hours of the morning by armed forces of the Crown and marched from his residence to a place known at Weir Hope and shot; that when his body was discovered in the morning it was found that practically the whole of his stomach had been blown away and his chest riddled with bullets; and whether he will cause immediate inquiries to be made into this case?
§ Sir H. GREENWOODI am still awaiting the report of the Court of Inquiry.
§ Mr. DEVLINasked the Prime Minister whether, in view of the demand for a thorough and complete investigation into the conduct of the officers of the Crown in Ireland, he is now prepared to appoint a commission of inquiry, as was done in South Africa, to inquire into all grievances and complaints against the administration of martial law and the policy of reprisals?
§ The PRIME MINISTERNo, Sir. The hon. Gentleman is under a misapprehension in supposing that a general inquiry of the nature indicated was held in South Africa; but in any case the request for such an enquiry in Ireland is one to which the Government cannot accede, for reasons which have been repeatedly stated in the course of recent Debates.