A federal judge has ordered Boston College to turnover oral histories of IRA interviews requested by British authorities.
In a 48 page ruling, Judge William Young ordered the handover but did not say they had to be given over immediately.
Federal prosecutors working at the behest of the British government have sought the tapes to see whether there is incriminating evidence against former IRA members on them.
Boston College had moved to quash the federal subpoena in search of access to confidential interviews with the former members of the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA).
The motion sought to prevent British authorities from using the oral tapes to investigate kidnappings and killings during the Troubles in Northern Ireland.
Conducted between 2001 to 2006 and known as the Belfast Project, the goal of the college’s academic project was to interview members of the IRA and other Irish paramilitary organizations about their activities during the Troubles. It was not, however, intended to become a tool of a wider government investigation.
All participants were assured their identities would remain confidential and that the interviews would only be released after their deaths. All of the transcripts are currently maintained by Boston College.
According to lawyers for Boston College, releasing the interviews would break the IRA's so-called code of silence and could lead to punishment by death, according to their court filing.
"Our position is that the premature release of the tapes could threaten the safety of the participants, the enterprise of oral history, and the ongoing peace and reconciliation process in Northern Ireland," said Jack Dunn, a spokesman for Boston College, in a statement to The New York Times.
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READ MORE:
Boston College may have to destroy IRA tapes says expert
British subpoena IRA records from Boston College oral archive
Boston College fights subpoena over IRA interviews
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The case is being monitored closely by oral historians at the college, who are concerned that it could erode the trust between historians and interviewees, making it much more difficult to get people to speak unguardedly in the future.
"I think it’s wonderful that Boston College is fighting the subpoena," Mary Larson, first vice president of the Oral History Association, told the Times. "What all of us in the oral history community are afraid of is this is going to have an incredible chilling effect on what we’re able to do."
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Switch to the desktop site to post a comment.seanomelbourne | Dec 27, 2011, 05:05 PM EST
BTW Ciara last week you lived in Tallaght,going up market?
seanomelbourne | Dec 26, 2011, 10:58 PM EST
Maybe you should live closer to that monument of british torture and terror,inside maybe and you may grasp a little bit of Irish pride and pay homage to men executed there,they gave you their lives so you can enjoy your Irish freedom. "Lest WE Forget" With a hide like yours you could live with the crocodiles. You and your friends are oxygen thieves who take for granted sacrifices made on your behalf by others.Dubliner and proud of it.
ciaradexy | Dec 23, 2011, 08:07 PM EST
Eh Sean, like most of my confident Irish friends, we have no issues calling ourselves Paddys. We are quite comfortable in our own skins. I live in Kilmainham, right beside the Gaol so no , I do not live anywhere near the UK. Are you missing home? Feeling bitter and resentful that you had to leave? Aww! The more people with your attitude who leave here, the better for the rest of us.
seanomelbourne | Dec 22, 2011, 05:27 AM EST
You love referring to the Irish as Paddy's, is it your British obsequious nature that's the problem? Ciaradexy. You're Anglophile "Paddy" and probably live there.
ciaradexy | Dec 21, 2011, 04:08 PM EST
Im neither an apologist for British nor Irish murderers. I do however feel that people need to grow up and move on. yes we have a shared history which is negative but we also have a shared present which is positive and reconciliatory. The Paddys and the Brits have more in common than we or the Brits have with any other nation. If the people of Northern Ireland want to unite with the Republic, stay with the UK or be a sovereign nation then thats up to them. I dont live there so it should not be up to people who do not live there. There was a recent poll undertaken in the North and the majority polled were happy to stay as they were. The future of Northern Ireland belongs to the people of Northern Ireland not to you or me.
seanomelbourne | Dec 20, 2011, 07:05 PM EST
The apologists for british murderers are alive and well I notice
Realist | Dec 20, 2011, 09:26 AM EST
It now seems that Boston College has opted not to challenge the judge's ruling and the tapes etc. will be handed over tomorrow. A happy ending after all.
Realist | Dec 20, 2011, 04:23 AM EST
Time to grow up and stop protecting terrorists murderers folks. Dry your eyes and hand them over. Her Majesty's Government would like to thank you for taking care of them so well. Now run along back to your Boston bar stools and sing us all a song about how Oliver Cromwell burned your granny's thatched cottage....lol.
stephen1553 | Dec 20, 2011, 01:51 AM EST
Teh code of OMERTA reigns in the BC case. Just as it did with the vatican re the endless hidden molestation of children by unmarryable priests
seanomelbourne | Dec 19, 2011, 06:13 PM EST
Ciaradexy !! another fence sitter who fails to see the seriousness of what has been done by this right wing judge.His actions are akin to making someones "will" public prior to their demise. A fair and balanced outcome would be no release of documents or releasing all documents,but the british are not interested in airing their dirty linen in public.Ciara you have the temerity to be proud of the demeaning tag "paddy" what a stupid Irish person you are.
ciaradexy | Dec 19, 2011, 02:07 PM EST
Nedwardatlarge-thats my point. Leave it alone, let it be. I am irish born and raised and like my mates and family, we refer to ourselves as Paddys when talking about issues between here and the UK just like my mates in the UK refer to themselves as Brits. Whats your next problem?
nedwardatlarge | Dec 19, 2011, 12:41 PM EST
ciaradexy. You dont seem to understand, that this is what we want to do ( let it be ) but the release of these tapes will start it all up again. Hence the discussion here. Got it yet? Please do not refer to me as a Paddy. I am Irish
ciaradexy | Dec 19, 2011, 12:27 PM EST
nedwardatlarge- It means leave it in the past and move on! Both sides were at fault, nothing is going to bring back the dead. Its time to reconcile and move on which is what most Paddys and Brits have done. its a small group of people who just cannot move on with their lives!
merefalow | Dec 19, 2011, 10:48 AM EST
this stinks,and it stinks that you censor legitimate comment,not for the first time..
Realist | Dec 19, 2011, 07:52 AM EST
The handover of the tapes is a done deal and not the real point of interest here - that will come afterwards. However, Mr Adams need not worry, he was never even a member of the Provisional IRA. I bet some of you people actually believe that too....lol.
IrelandNorth | Dec 19, 2011, 06:50 AM EST
To paraphrase British author Charles Dickens: "If that is the law, then the law is an ass." Academic privilege is superior and antecedent to Military Intelligence (MI). This smacks of virtual conscription. MI5/6 - do your own bloody investigation instead of purloining that of scholars.
nedwardatlarge | Dec 18, 2011, 05:29 PM EST
ciaradexy . What the hell does that mean!!!
ciaradexy | Dec 18, 2011, 05:10 PM EST
Let it go for f#*ksake!
nedwardatlarge | Dec 18, 2011, 04:50 PM EST
I cannot say anything better than Seagreen, it says it all. I agree with canadianirish and SeamusMor your an idiot. Now we need to discuss how to Nixon these tapes or God help Poor Eireann and those people in the North again!!!
canadianirish | Dec 18, 2011, 02:58 PM EST
@seagreen - great post!
Springfield9 | Dec 18, 2011, 10:57 AM EST
My Grandfather fought in the War for Independence. He had a great solution for inconvenient Brits.
madpadd | Dec 18, 2011, 02:11 AM EST
Keep them confidential. If the order comes to hand them over......do a Nixon on them.
SeamusMartin | Dec 18, 2011, 01:54 AM EST
The promise of confidentiality should out weigh anything else. All sides in the "Troubles" have blood on their hands. The island of Ireland doesn't need any more salt poured into deep, but healing wounds. The tapes should vanish.
warlocks | Dec 18, 2011, 01:30 AM EST
Hell with the Brits They are a bunch of Bloody trouble makers. with their heads so far up their Arses they can't see the light of Day. I say give them Nothing at all !
milfordmama | Dec 17, 2011, 08:19 PM EST
It would be a travesty to turn over the tapes that were promised to be confidential. Isn't it the same as a reporter refusing to name a source? My son graduated from Boston College in 2004 and we love the school. I am glad they are fighting this ruling and hope BC prevails.
seanomelbourne | Dec 17, 2011, 07:12 PM EST
Maybe the judge can take an evev handed approach and release all documents or ask the brits to release their dirty little secrets. The usual suspects are condoning he judgement .but the again they are the narrominded spiteful lot.
Woodman | Dec 17, 2011, 07:06 PM EST
Boston College seems honor bound to live up to its word.The order can be appealed and much can happen during that time.
seagreen | Dec 17, 2011, 07:04 PM EST
Yr 2014 American Judge William Young at the Hague in the Netherlands is facing charges of direct and indirect homicide resulting in his decision to induce violence and strife throughout Ireland ,Britain, and America by putting forth provocative documents that caused civil unrest in the above mentioned countries. These documents were made public during a period when patience, negotiation, and reasoning were in place. According to prosecutors at the Hague, this action was tantamount throwing high test gasoline on dying embers to inflame and envelope all concerned...
canadianirish | Dec 17, 2011, 06:41 PM EST
Judge William Young is an a**hole. Presumably, those tapes are vanishing as we speak.
seagreen | Dec 17, 2011, 05:42 PM EST
The tapes can easily disappear !!!
ellenfromcork | Dec 17, 2011, 05:16 PM EST
God help us, there will be blood spilt over this.
Irishiker60 | Dec 17, 2011, 04:56 PM EST
Just like usual. The damn brits are sticking their nose where it doesn't belong again, just to make trouble. The arrogant limeys have made enough trouble in the past. The brits never looked into how all the Irish were murdered, beaten, raped, & starved to death now did they. The brits should keep their noses up their own arses & leave the great Irish alone, once & for all. STAND FIRM WITH THE IRISH!!
CanadianPat | Dec 17, 2011, 04:24 PM EST
Very selective!What about the tapes relation to UVF ,UDA,RUC,etc. crimes and collusion !Sure Britain would not like to see them out in public and would not hesitate to send in agents to defy American sovereignty and distroy them. What one judge rules another can override. U.S.law should not be infulenced by Britain and be used to serve their interest.
SeamusMor | Dec 17, 2011, 04:19 PM EST
A Judge has ruled that the request for the tapes is lawful, so Boston College will turn them over. Case closed. Next we may see Gerry Adams and others tried for murder, based upon the content of the recordings. Though the heavens may fall, the law reigns supreme over our affairs, and must be obeyed.
Ernesider | Dec 17, 2011, 03:43 PM EST
I thought this was considered totally without foundation having a foreign government request confidential materials that most likely would not exist if the participants had not been guaranteed annonymity at least until their death. All I hear is that Judge Young was a lecturer for a period at B.C. Dukakis had a hand in putting him in as a judge and Thatcher's man Reagan gave him a federal job as a judge. So much as I am against guns and violence I believe they can't be buried too deeply as there are far too many untrust worthy bastards around. This is a travesty.
audreybolton | Dec 17, 2011, 02:18 PM EST
The Irish Security Forces would be interested in these tapes from the IRA too considering they might contain information from an organisation who tried to overthrow the Irish State.!
Ratslayer | Dec 17, 2011, 01:35 PM EST
Welcome to the Fascist Police State of America where EVERYTHING belongs to the US GOVT, which doesn't give a damn about anyone human nor any country unless yer england, have oil (and a nuke) or are a member of the 1 percent.
irishgenebuf | Dec 17, 2011, 01:06 PM EST
Make those tapes disappear. And don't publicize it when you do a project like the IRA one.
Murph46 | Dec 17, 2011, 12:27 PM EST
If Nixon's 18 minutes can vanish-so should the critical piece with names!Screw the Brits
rugbyplayer | Dec 17, 2011, 11:59 AM EST
Judge Young is wrong. There has to be some ability to keep secret those items that were by contract or oath promised to be so. It seems that the British courts and constabulary are not as keen to investigate the magnitude of innocent Nationalist or Catholic blood shed by the rabidly extremist N.I. Protestant members of the UVF, Orange Order and the RUC. Boston College must not give in!
cillowen | Dec 17, 2011, 11:51 AM EST
The Saxon colluders and lackeys that get off on Irish pain, will never be satisfied with leaving well enough alone. That sliver of Ireland that they cleave to, is very much the reason for their stirring of the pot. Their fear of loss/ridicule at having to rework their Union Jack symbol were Ireland united, an all such usurped symbols of Erin that they unashamedly utilize at will. Willie's recent wedding tunic provides some with a sense of what I'm alluding to - that Irish Guard lock-in, that shamrock and harp festooned garment. The Welsh have been been totally incorporated with a Prince of Wales to guide them. The Royals have that Balmoral Castle to excite the Scots for sweet recognition.
FallsRNat | Dec 17, 2011, 11:49 AM EST
this is nothing to do with irish bashing, the US outlawed Al Qaeda as a teerorist organisation, therefore all paramilitaries around the world are viewed as such, the US is following due process & adherence to it's own anti terrorist legislation
RedBranch | Dec 17, 2011, 11:45 AM EST
Truth will out...
eibhleann7 | Dec 17, 2011, 11:39 AM EST
What tapes?
irishbob | Dec 17, 2011, 11:10 AM EST
There is no way the US government will handle this matter in an even handed manner as long as Obama and his sidekick Eric Holder are in charge. Either Boston College should burn the tapes, or the British Government and Bob Jones University should be forced to hand over everything they have concerning Ian Paisley and his gang. In any event, if the tapes are returned, will the Troubles be far behind? This was a bad decision for everyone.
Springfield9 | Dec 17, 2011, 10:50 AM EST
Well, there it is a project run by Morons and an equally Moronic Judge. BY the way, why don't you publish the Judge's name - after all, he/she is part of the Troubles now.
Searlit | Dec 17, 2011, 10:47 AM EST
I agree with Nelsonbarry.
slainte9 | Dec 17, 2011, 10:31 AM EST
The US government needs to be evenhanded. The US shouldn't assist the British until they go after Bob Jones University and its relationship with Ian Paisley. The US government should not assist a regime in Britain that's only interested in prosecuting Catholics.
Nelsonbarry | Dec 17, 2011, 10:02 AM EST
The judge is a jerk, there goes the reconciliation process in Northern Ireland. Boston College should burn the dam things.