asked the Minister for Justice if he will state whether a Superintendent and a special body of plain clothes and uniformed members of the Gárda Síochána were brought in special motor cars to Kinsale on the afternoon of Sunday, 12th November, to prevent a parade of boy and girl members of the Young Ireland Association; and, if so, if he can state what special danger might have resulted to the peace and good order of the community if this march of boys and girls had taken place; further if any of these Gárda officers and men were taken off the special duty of trying to find those responsible for the crimes committed at Kilbeg and Innishannon on the morning of Sunday, 29th October, in order to prevent members of the Young Ireland Association from walking the streets of Kinsale in blue shirts; and if he will state what was the cost involved in bringing the extra Gárdai to Kinsale on that occasion.
Ceisteanna.—Questions. Oral Answers. - Gárdai and Kinsale Parade.
Additional police were brought into Kinsale on the occasion referred to, in order to prevent anticipated breaches of the peace. The Deputy has been misinformed as regards the rank of the officer in charge; he was an Inspector, not a Superintendent. I do not accept the Deputy's suggestion that the proposed parade was limited to "boys and girls" or was not likely to result in breaches of the peace. No member of the additional police force was taken off the special duty of investigating the offences referred to in the question. No useful purpose would be served by an attempt to make a separate estimate of the cost of this particular piece of police duty.