Senator John Kerry has made a dramatic intervention in the Boston College IRA tapes controversy.
In a letter to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Kerry (D-Mass.) urged the State Department to “work with the British authorities” in the hope that they will “reconsider the path they have chosen” with regard to Boston College’s Belfast Project.
Saying the subpoenas had “implications for the confidentiality of other research projects of this nature,” Senator Kerry also said in the letter that he is “obviously concerned about the impact that it may have on the continued success of the Northern Ireland peace process.”
The letter also sees Senator Kerry point out how he spoke with Attorney General Eric Holder on the matter late last year.
In a recent conference call with a number of Irish-American organizations, it is understood Senator Kerry indicated he would speak personally with British Foreign Secretary William Hague on the issue. On the same call, he is said to have not ruled out the possibility of a hearing on the matter in front of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, which he chairs.
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Speaking with The Irish Emigrant, Boston-based attorney John Foley, who has been actively lobbying on behalf of the Belfast Project’s directors McIntyre and Moloney, said a lot of hard work had gone into getting Senator Kerry on board, and hoped that “we can finally end this waste of time and effort.”
“Drew O’Brien at Senator Kerry’s office has been instrumental in getting things to this stage,” Foley said. “He’s been a great help in terms of getting on top of the issues at hand, and getting us the political response we need.”
In total the Belfast Project included interviews with around 50 republican and loyalist paramilitaries gathered between 2001 and 2006, under the condition that they would not be released until the interviewees had passed away.At present, sensitive interview tapes relating to former IRA operative Dolours Price lie in the hands of US prosecutors, with a Boston appeal hearing set to decide in March if they should be handed to the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI).
The Belfast Project has been in the spotlight since last summer, when US authorities working on behalf of the PSNI demanded access to 26 interviews given to BC by former IRA members for a project on Northern Ireland’s Troubles, undertaken by former IRA man-turned journalist Anthony McIntyre and Bronx-based journalist Ed Moloney. The PSNI request forms part of an investigation into the murder of Jean McConville by the IRA in 1972.The summer subpoenas zoned in on interviews given for the project by Price and the late Brendan Hughes. Both have in the past accused Sinn Fein president Adams of running a secret death squad which conducted the kidnappings and disappearances of at least nine people during the early 1970s, including Jean McConville.
A mother of 10, McConville was abducted, killed and buried on a beach in the Republic by the IRA, having been suspected of informing to British authorities. Price has previously admitted driving McConville to her death, and there has been speculation that her interviews indicate that Gerry Adams ordered the killing.
BC has previously handed over tapes relating to Hughes - who passed away in 2008 - and parts of his testimony were also published in Ed Moloney’s book Voices from the Grave. Price, however, remains alive.
BC was recently ordered to hand over some 170 transcripts to Judge William G. Young, who said he would review the materials in-camera before deciding which parts, if any, should be handed over to prosecutors. Judge Young agreed with BC that the release of the material could place academic freedom in peril, and said only relevant files would be passed on.
Subsequently ruling to hand over the Price tapes, he agreed with prosecutors that a US-UK Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty (MLAT) compels both countries to share vital information.
In a January 20 ruling, Judge Young further ordered BC to hand over interviews conducted with seven additional paramilitaries to US prosecutors, saying they were also of relevance. The college has said it is weighing up its legal options, which could include an appeal.
“We are disappointed with [Judge Young’s] ruling in light of the effect it will have on the enterprise of oral history,’’ BC spokesman Jack Dunn told The Boston Globe of the most recent order. “We will take the time allotted us to review our legal options, which include the right to appeal this decision.”
The college did not however appeal the initial Price tapes ruling, leading to a bitter war of words between the researchers and the college over exactly what should have been done to protect the archive. McIntyre and Moloney say they have been betrayed by BC; the college in turn says that although it is not happy with developments, it is obliged to follow valid court orders relating to a criminal investigation.
McIntyre and Moloney were given some breathing space by the US Court of Appeals when it deemed that the Price tapes should not be given to the PSNI before further review. The next hearing on the matter is set for March, and Judge Young has said that the seven more recent orders will fall due three business days after the hold on the Price tapes is lifted, if that happens.
Meanwhile at a separate hearing Tuesday - conducted coincidentally at Boston College Law School owing to an education program aimed at bringing the court system to legal students - Judge William G. Young dismissed a complaint brought by McIntyre and Moloney against the US Government.
At the hearing - which Boston College was not a part of - the pair argued through their lawyer James Cotter that Attorney General Holder did not properly consider the implications for those involved before issuing the subpoenas, and did not follow certain safeguards agreed between the two governments with regard to MLAT, which included provisions for crimes committed before the Good Friday Agreement of 1998.
The pair also claimed the release would be in violation of their First Amendment rights, and could endanger the fragile peace in Northern Ireland. The personal safety of all involved in the project was also raised, given heightened dissident activity in Northern Ireland of late.
McIntyre’s wife Carrie Twomey, herself an American citizen, had outlined in a previous court affidavit how she feels her family is in danger over the release of the tapes. The couple lives with their two children in Drogheda, Co. Louth, having moved from Belfast two years ago.
“My husband is being classified as an informer,” she told The Irish Emigrant. “There is definitely that distinct rustling in the undergrowth. When Voices from the Grave was released, our neighbor’s house was attacked.
“I wouldn’t be here in the US spending money I don’t have, if I didn’t feel my life was in danger. We’re trying to get the grown-ups to step forward and do the right thing. This case goes completely against US foreign policy and leaves a lot of US citizens open to potential pitfalls.”
As expected, however, Judge Young dismissed the complaints at the brief hearing, and all involved must now wait until March before a ruling on a handover of the tapes to the PSNI is made.
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Switch to the desktop site to post a comment.SeamusMartin | Feb 03, 2012, 12:03 AM EST
I don't give a sh!te about all the stupid details the preceding commentor have stated. What's done is done. The blood bath is over. Both sides are to be blamed. So accept it. It takes a couragous men and women to stop the hate for the childrens sake. Now go in peace.
KLennox | Feb 01, 2012, 12:21 AM EST
Thank goodness somebody is doing this. Thank you, Senator Kerry. I hope we protect the confidentiality of these files.
seanomelbourne | Jan 30, 2012, 10:25 PM EST
Kilsally if the HET have prosecuted loyalists to the tune of 90% they must have committed 90% of the atrocities.Thank you for adding clarity to Slainte's argument and poving him correct.
Kilsally | Jan 30, 2012, 10:22 AM EST
slainte9 - you are misinformed - this police inquiry is by the HET (Historical Enquiries Team) who look at cold cases related to `The Troubles` over 90% of resultant prosecutions have been of Loyalist paramilitary crimes.
Kilsally | Jan 30, 2012, 10:19 AM EST
So Senator Kerry is urging the police to stop investigating a murder? BBC Northern Ireland News: Release Boston College IRA tapes says Jean McConville’s daughter …The daughter of Jean McConville who was kidnapped and murdered by the IRA, has called for controversial tapes about her killing to be released. Helen McKendry said interviews given to researchers at Boston College about her mother’s death should be handed to police in Northern Ireland. She was 15 years old in 1972 when her mother was taken from their Divis Street home. Jean McConville was tortured, shot in the back of the head and buried near a County Louth beach. Helen McKendry said not knowing what had happened was “torture” Ms McKendry has written to the US Attorney General asking him to see the family’s side of the story and hand over the interviews to the British authorities…….
BillyFitz | Jan 30, 2012, 08:32 AM EST
Still don't understand why any Republican or Loyalist for that matter, would volunteer for this "project?" Did they not see this coming? Unfortunately, what's done is done. Not sure what B.C. was trying to accomplish. This entire mess is only going to reopen old wounds.
IrelandNorth | Jan 30, 2012, 08:05 AM EST
Working class Vietnam Vets. had a right to vent their spleen at the warmongering capitalist apologists on Capitol Hill and Pennsylvania Ave. The PSNI are RUC in sheeps clothing, and questionably partisan in delivering justice. If I had been either of the researchers I'd be hopping mad it my work was passed onto third parties by BC.
jflanagan | Jan 29, 2012, 08:51 PM EST
If he handles this like he "stood up for" his fellow vietnam veterans, Boston College is going to be sold down the drain for political points. Had he not betrayed his fellow veterans with hearsay and lies, he probably would have been elected 8 years ago and still be president.
pilib04 | Jan 29, 2012, 07:35 PM EST
John Kerry can be counted on to take care of this mess created by BC.
seanomelbourne | Jan 29, 2012, 05:52 PM EST
Nice article islenita!! it's as plain as day what is happening here unfortunaely realist and his cohorts cannot see the truth through their pro British rose tinted glasses.As I have stated before 50% of the civilian workers in the PSNI were members of the discredited RUC one wonders who's pushing this tilted barrow.
durtymurphy | Jan 29, 2012, 04:17 PM EST
The Brits will never quit, or 'Move On' as we like to say nowadays. Too many atrocities by ALL sides, so if you wanna fix one, then fix 'em all. Impossible? Unless an impartial tribunal runs the show, it will never happen, even after the GFA was put in place, the Brits were caught continuing with their subversive tactics, any why not, N.I. is a good practice/training camp for them.
FallsRNat | Jan 29, 2012, 11:35 AM EST
Kerr is after irish american votes, a small minority that appear to support SF, well, let's see if he holds up the values if documentary evidence stands in the way of a Al Qaeda member being convicted, the simple fact is that the US establishment plays the 'green' card at election time, but the irish are so split on the Ulster question that they cannot show a united front on anything, so we will wait to see what next week will hold, of course, if Kerry is simply saying that no terrorist should be held accountable for their actions or that an Irish terrorist should be allowed to 'get away' with violent actions, but no muslim terrorist organisation will be treated with the same leniency, then why doesn't he say so, oh, slainte9, u obviously arent from NI otherwise you would know that the HET have been dealing with almost exclusively loyalist crimes.
islenita | Jan 28, 2012, 09:56 PM EST
It's about time this matter received attention as our Justices, US Attorneys and all others seemed to be brain dead. The Judge's first Memorandum allowing an "in camera review" is like reading his "circular thought process". Boy was that one hard read. This murder happened 40 years ago and the British government, under the terms of the Treaty, was to exhaust all remedies as this request is of last resort. They have done nothing. In fact they had the Brendan Hughes tapes for over 9 months and still haven't done anything. How foolish does the US look arguing that there is an urgency to this matter. It is clearly a politically motivated attempt to skew the governing body back to the ways of old-Orange. Hey and how about the matter of the FBI and it's 3k pages of information on Senator Ted Kennedy and Chappaquiddick. We all know he was drunk, drove off the bridge, killing Ms Kopechne. I would venture that rather hang around to render any help, he hightailed it out of there to get "legal help". So why does the Kennedy's get to review the documents prior to disclosure, and if any of them are still alive and implicated or complicit in Teddy's adventure, those portions will not be disclosed until they are deceased. Ahh the DOUBLE STANDARD when it comes to the Republicans in NI. We all know the paras also engaged in murdering as well. Case dismissed.
slainte9 | Jan 28, 2012, 07:08 PM EST
The British only want to punish the Catholics. Since the British have been completely unwilling to punish either their military or the Protestant militias, their war crimes need to be brought before the war crimes tribunal at The Hague.
Realist | Jan 28, 2012, 06:06 PM EST
seanmelbourne: I understand your posts just fine my friend and that's precisely what you meant. Thankfully, you will be disappointed as the 'Troubles' will not be making a come back. If you're embarrassed by this, then good, you ought to be - perhaps you've learned a lesson? As I stated earlier, if these tapes hold evidence that can bring killers to justice then let the PSNI have them.
seanomelbourne | Jan 28, 2012, 05:34 PM EST
I never said I wanted a return to "pre GFA" I merely stated the possibility of it happening and for the British to be selective in what info it request lacks honesty and evenhandness. Do not make assumations on posts read them properly instead of making a rush to judgement and making a fool of yuorself. You obviously agree with what the Brits are doing,or is it a rush to judgement on my behalf.I find your remarks insulting and uneducated.Lift your game if you wish to banter with me.
Realist | Jan 28, 2012, 05:10 PM EST
FallsRNat: I think you mixed up the names there. Read my post again and you will see that I am in agreement with you.
FallsRNat | Jan 28, 2012, 04:24 PM EST
Realist - wrong as usual, the release of these tapes isn't going to bring a return of the Troubles, Gerry Adams is fighting the return of these tapes because they alledgely implicate him in one of the most heinous killing's of the 70s, the murder of Jean McConville, McIntryre isn't really a target as most of Adam's henchman has either diassociated themselves with him or given up violence for good. He needs a respite from all of the bad news that has travelled his way from the fallout of the O'Rawe increasingly acceptable version of the sellout of the Hunger strikers for SF's political journey. In the twilight of the terrorist violence it is unlikely that revenge attacks will increase as both CIRA & RIRA have Adams down as a sell out, so all he can do is revert to type. The only terrorist organisation that is active here is parts of the UVF Belfast & Lurgan brigades, wishful thinking & threats of returning violence by yourself & others on this board are not borne out by events here in Belfast, at the end of the day we are all interested in the truth, no matter how painful it is for 'our' side when the spotlight is reflected on us.
Realist | Jan 28, 2012, 04:12 PM EST
seanmelbourne: "....the British wish to open the floodgates and return to a pre GFA scenario...."? Lol....no they don't. That's just your little wet dream of the violence and murder starting up again. Well it ain't gonna happen my friend, no matter how much you want it. If these tapes hold evidence that can bring killers to justice then let the PSNI have them and it seems the judge agrees with me.
seanomelbourne | Jan 28, 2012, 03:44 PM EST
If the British wish to open the floodgates and return to a pre GFA scenario,be it on their heads. One should be careful for what they wish for.They Irish American anti nationalists here have no idea what,s really happening.The Brits are only interested in seeking inormation which may harm nationalists. Boston college has info that may bring some pro-British terrorists to justice and they do not seek this information.So much for "moving on".AS far as the First (pro British) minister is concerned(not suprisingly) he backs the brits in this issue. As Napper Tandy said"when talking peace with the English make sure your sword is sharpened"
Murph46 | Jan 28, 2012, 03:21 PM EST
I can sleep soundly Eric Holder is on the case!
canadianirish | Jan 28, 2012, 03:01 PM EST
I would hope that Northern Ireland's Deputy First Minister is in behind the scene talks with the U.S. government.
canadianirish | Jan 28, 2012, 02:31 PM EST
This moronic judge, William G. Young has not a whit of understanding of what the 'Troubles' were all about. In my opinion, Anthony McIntyre's wife, Carrie Twomey sums the present situation up best: "My husband is being classified as an informer...There is definitely that distinct rustling in the undergrowth. When 'Voices From The Grave' was released our neighbour's house was attacked." A sobering thought indeed. The U.S. will have blood on its hands. Nice job, William G. Young.
righton | Jan 28, 2012, 02:15 PM EST
This may not be relevant to the debate, but maybe to Irish Central. . .John Kerry's last name was created by his grandfather, Kohn, a Czech citizen, also Jewish, when he emigrated. . picked out the name Kerry by placing his finger on a map or globe. This was in an interview when the senator was running. Nevertheless, his ancestry is well documented. google.
cillowen | Jan 28, 2012, 01:55 PM EST
Who would be excited showing medals won for killing innocents to make them see our way or the highway, such enemies we now gladly trade with. Crazy is the norm for those who give voice for the joy of killing.
cillowen | Jan 28, 2012, 01:54 PM EST
Who would be excited showing medals won for for killing innocents to make them see our way or the highway, such enemies we now gladly trade with. Crazy is the norm for those who give voice for the joy of killing.
Nicomax | Jan 28, 2012, 01:42 PM EST
That 'Swift Boat' has sailed, and Kerry has been an effective US Senator for decades, and is assuming a responsible role in trying to broker a very difficult issue between a long-standing ally and a major university in his state. Few others have seemed willing to step in to help in any way.
irishpjk | Jan 28, 2012, 12:31 PM EST
John Kerry came back from Nam and threw his war medals over the fence that was an insult to all who served in the military. When he ran for the white house and wanted to win over the vets his medals came out, when questioned about why he still had them he said it was not his medals he threw away. One story or the other was a downright lie. John Kerry is not to be trusted he will side with whoever he thinks will provide him with the most votes, and do very little to help either side.
Searlit | Jan 28, 2012, 11:27 AM EST
There is no justice under tyrants.
SeamusMor | Jan 28, 2012, 10:46 AM EST
Above all else, this is a legal issue. Neither academic freedom, nor peace, nor politics can trump the law. "Fiat justitia ruat caelum." Though the heavens may fall justice must be done.
donal1951 | Jan 28, 2012, 10:39 AM EST
While I often disagree with John Kerry's politics, I like him personally, and this gives me another reason to do so. Kerry is doing the right thing by trying to keep the records confidential, as promised to those who participated in the BC project.