HC Deb 29 June 1995 vol 262 c781W
Mr. Mallon

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if articles I, II, and III, of the Act for the Better Observation of the Lord's Day, commonly called Sunday, AD 1695, are currently in force. [31285]

Sir John Wheeler

Articles I, II, and III of the Sunday Observance Act (Ireland) 1695 are still in force as set out in the latest version of the "Statutes Revised, Northern Ireland", Vol. A, pages 47 and 48.

Mr. Mallon

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland (1) how many convictions there have been under the Act for the Better Observation of the Lord's Day, commonly called Sunday, AD 1695, for the use or exercise on the Lord's day of(a) hurling, (b) commoning, (c) football playing, (d) cudgels, (e) wrestling and (f) any other games, pastimes or sports in each of the past 15 years; [31289]

(2) how many individuals have been (a) prosecuted, (b) convicted, (c) fined, (d) subjected to the confiscation of goods or property or (e) set publicly in the stocks under any of the provisions of the Act for the Better Observation of the Lord's Day, commonly called Sunday, AD 1695, in each of the past 15 years. [31287]

Sir John Wheeler

As far as the police are concerned, there have been no criminal prosecutions recorded in the past 15 years for offences under the Act for the Better Observation of the Lord's Day. There may have been private prosecutions, but no central records of these are available.