New fears about Boston College and confidential documents they hold

Papers on decommissioning of IRA arms may also be in jeopardy

Larger Text

Print

E-mail

9 Comments

Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin

Photo by Google Images

Tweet

Justice Minister Alan Shatter responded to Martin’s comments and branded them ‘disingenuous, inaccurate and misleading’.

The Fine Gael Minister issued a statement which said that the IICD detailed the different arrangements made by them for storage of their documentation.

“Papers from political parties setting out their views on decommissioning and other private correspondence received from individuals was deposited by them for safe keeping in Boston College, subject to an embargo on their disclosure for 30 years,” said Minister Shatter.

“Details of the quantity of arms decommissioned by the various paramilitary groups were placed with the US State Department to preserve their security and confidentiality on the basis of the commission’s assessment that the time was not right for them to be made public.”

“Both the Republic’s Department of Justice and the Northern Ireland Office have been monitoring the situation in relation to the current legal proceedings in Boston pertaining to the oral archives and will remain in contact about the matter.

“However, there is no reason to believe that there are particular grounds for concern about the arrangements made by the commission, after consultation with the then governments.”

Print

E-mail

Tweet