asked the Minister for Justice if he will state whether he has received a report that on the night of Saturday, 1st September, a band of men visited a number of houses in Charleville, County Cork, and demanded that the occupiers hand over some blue shirts belonging to members of the household; and if he will state whether the persons guilty of this offence have been identified and charged.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Raids on Houses in Co. Cork.
I received no report upon this affair until after I had been given notice of the Deputy's question; nor has the matter been reported to the Gárda Síochána by the aggrieved persons. Statements, however, were made to the police by two members of the League of Youth in Charleville which throw some light on what occurred and these I propose to read to the House.
The first statement is as follows:—
"I reside at Carroll's Lane, Charleville. On Saturday morning after 12 o'clock I had some drink taken, and as a joke I went to several houses in the town of Charleville where Blueshirts were residing. I knocked at the doors and asked for the shirts. At the house of William Deasey I got a shirt. At the other houses I was refused. I intended the whole thing as a joke. I did not use any violence or threats of violence and I did not intend to frighten or annoy anyone. I won't give the name of the man who was with me."
The second statement is:—
"I remember Friday night, 31st August. I worked in my office as usual that day. I left the office at 6 p.m., the usual hour. I cannot recall where I spent the remainder of the evening. I usually retire about 9.30 or 10 p.m. but on the night referred to I have no recollection of retiring."
The Deputy can put that in his atrocity column.
Will the Minister see that, in view of the fact that actions of this kind are catching and that what happens in one part of the country tends to spread to other parts, the same diligence is exercised by the police in following up some of the other cases of this kind in the country?