Item 15 - Letter from John Russell, Prime Minister, to George Charles, 3rd Earl

12pp

Letter from [the Prime Minister, Lord John] Russell, Bangor {Wales] to George Charles, 3rd Earl, stating that he has received his letter enclosing the resolutions agreed at a meeting in Castlebar, of the Guardians of the various poor law unions in County Mayo. He writes that the government is always willing to consider applications for the postponement of payments but the Boards of Guardians in Mayo appear to be determined 'to resist the execution of the Law' and 'the facts on which their resolutions are founded have been much disfigured'. He then outlines all the government did for the relief of the poor during the Famine and that a large debt of £8m was incurred, half of which remains a charge on Ireland. The Poor Law Guardians have been empowered to collect the installments to pay off this debt, some postponement of payments may be allowed but the Guardians cannot decide which loans they will repay and which they will not.