Dramatic move as Senator John Kerry steps into Boston College dispute

Says he is concerned release of tapes will impact Irish peace process

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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.

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