NI: Man granted UK Supreme Court hearing in bid to prevent police access to Boston College tapes
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Credit: UK Supreme Court
A former member of the IRA has been granted a UK Supreme Court hearing in an attempt to prevent police from gaining access to interviews given as part of a project known as the Boston College tapes.
Anthony McIntyre and journalist Ed Moloney began the project in 2001 and interviewed former paramilitary members about their experiences during the Troubles.
Mr McIntyre himself gave a confidential testimony to Boston College.
The interviews were intended to be aired only after the participants had died but the PSNI has, since 2011, sought to examine the recordings which are currently held in secure storage in Belfast.
In 2014, Sinn Féin said the tapes had been compiled “maliciously”, claiming they were the basis for the arrest of Gerry Adams at the time.
Mr McIntyre is now challenging a bid to gain access to his testimony.
He argues that the International Letter of Request (ILOR) detailing a list of alleged offences officers are looking into contains “a number of errors”.
He commenced legal proceedings in 2016 to stop the DPP and PSNI from taking additional steps in using interview materials requested from the US.
In the wake of his failed High Court challenge last year he has now been given permission to appeal to the UK Supreme Court for an oral hearing.
Of the tapes, he said: “They were never intended to be used for criminal investigations. I welcome the fact that the Supreme Court will now hear this case given the important issues at hand.”
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