IRA Tapes Handed To PSNI

A former IRA man will be unable to prevent police taking possession of taped interviews he carried out with a convicted bomber.

Anthony McIntyre had attempted to prevent police access to his confidential material, which was created for a history project at Boston College.

PSNI detectives have specifically singled out all interviews with conducted with Dolours Price, who was jailed for her part in the Old Bailey bomb attack in 1973.

The police have acquired the tapes as part of their investigation into the 1972 murder of Jean McConville.

Mr McIntyre has claimed the acts by the PSNI could put him in danger of being targeted by dissident republicans for betrayal of the IRA’s code of silence.

But Mr Justice Treacy, who oversaw the case, said: "In light of the unequivocal response from the PSNI, supported by the threat assessment from the security authorities, I conclude that the applicant has failed to make out an arguable case that disclosure of the Boston College tapes would, as he claimed, materially increase the risk to his life or that of his family."

Ex paramilitary members from both sides gave interviews to Mr McIntyre and journalist Ed Moloney for the college's Belfast Project.

The recordings were undertaken on the understanding that they would only be released posthumously.

Lawyers for Mr McIntyre argued that his Article 2 right to life under the European Convention on Human Rights trumped the PSNI's legal obligation to investigate murder.

Critics of the PSNI’s actions argue that the decision made by Mr Justice Treacy could threaten future academic research.

(IT/GK)