Court rules to rescind ban on access to EX-IRA man’s Boston Tapes
A PROHIBITION on police accessing secret recordings about a former IRA member’s activities during the Troubles is set to be rescinded, the High Court ruled.
Senior judges held they had no jurisdiction to allow Anthony Mcintyre to mount a further appeal against disclosure of interviews he gave to Boston College.
Lord Justice Mccloskey said: “In a nutshell, we have not been persuaded that we have the power to make the order sought.”
Lawyers for Mr Mcintyre were given 24 hours to make any lastditch application for a stay on release of the tapes which have remained in secure storage at the Royal Courts of Justice in Belfast for more than five years.
In 2018, Mr Mcintyre launched a legal battle to ensure the recordings and transcripts remain sealed and confidential.
He was one of the main researchers for the Boston College project to compile an oral history of the conflict. Dozens of ex-paramilitaries provided testimonies on the understanding their accounts would be kept secret while they are alive.
Those assurances were dealt a blow after police secured transcripts and tapes of interviews given by former IRA woman Dolours Price and loyalist Winston “Winkie” Rea.
Detectives want access to Mr Mcintyre’s recorded recollection of his IRA activities as part of investigations into alleged terrorist offences nearly 50 years ago.
A subpoena seeking copies of his interviews was served on Boston College by the Government. The move involved an International Letter of Request (ILOR) setting out alleged offences under investigation.
Although PSNI officers brought the Boston tapes back to Northern Ireland from the US, they were kept sealed because of Mr Mcintyre’s legal challenge.
He claimed police should not be allowed the recordings due to mistakes and inaccuracies in the ILOR. But in October 2018, the High Court dismissed his bid for an injunction restraining the PSNI and Director of Public Prosecutions from making any further use of the interviews.
Mr Mcintyre was subsequently refused permission to take his challenge to the Supreme Court.
With the tapes being sought before the May 1 deadline for continuing Troubles-related investigations under the terms of the Government’s new Legacy Act, lawyers for the Chief Constable argued that all routes of appeal have now been exhausted.
Tony Mcgleenan KC insisted there is no jurisdiction to deal with arguments now raised by the EX-IRA man’s representatives.
Mr Mcintyre’s barrister, Ronan Lavery KC, claimed he should still have a right to appeal because of an error in how the original judicial panel was designated. However, Lord Justice McCloskey, sitting with Lady Chief Justice Dame Siobhan Keegan, backed the PSNI’S arguments.
Dismissing Mr Mcintyre’s application for a redesignation in how the court dealt with the case, the judge described it as “unprecedented”.