2 1 e g a P / Echo Opinion 7 1 0 2 , 2 Y A M A U.S. role in legacy issues resolution - 6 2 L I R The conflict in Northern references to Jean McConville in the en- P A Ireland grabbed head- tire oral history project, in any interview / lines around the world of any interviewees. o h c as a never-ending armed Boston College sought to quash the E h conflict for the better subpoena and Ed Moloney (as Project s i r I part of three decades. Director) and Anthony McIntyre (re- / O ver 3, 600 lives were searcher for tthhe Republican participants) m Megan o lost and countless more intervened to protect the confidentiality c . o h LLyynch were forever changed of the interviews. c e before the struggle con- Following the decision of the U.S. Dis- h letters s i r @irishecho.com i cluded in 1998. trict Court for the District of Mas- . w A new generation has sachusetts to deny the motion to quash w w since grown up in peace and reaped the the subpoena and order the release of 85 benefits of stability and new economic interview tapes, in May 2013, the U.S. opportunities. Court of Appeal for the First Circuit or- Meanwhile mechanisms to address the dered a more limited release of several past have been held hostage by political tapes relevant to the murder and disap- gridlock around legacy issues of truth, pearance of Jean McConville. justice and reconciliation. The First Circuit Court had reviewed Nineteen years onn,, tthhe road to political the documents in camera and deter- consensus has been as long and windy mined that some of the documents were as any rural back-road in the province. Richard Haass and Meghan O’Sullivan. not in fact relevant to the request and Persistent failure to come to terms with could not be seized. tthhe past deflates public confidence in po- aside £150 million to address legacy is- These documents made their way to litical institutions and undermines a sues over 5 years. Northern Ireland where they have been hard-won peace. Two years later the legislature has yet used to charge Ivor Bell with aiding and The U.S. has played a prominent role develop a plan to implement any part of abetting in the kidnap, killing and burial in the peace process in the North and the Agreement, including the more time of McConville. In August 2016, the Mag- continued to engage in diplomatic ef- sensitive components of dealing with istrate’s Court in Northern Ireland de- forts to securing a sustainable and mean- the past. termined there was sufficient evidence ingful peace. One of the mechanisms agreed to in for case to proceed to trial. U.S. diplomat Richard Haass and Dr. the SHA was the creation of an oral his- Lawyers claimed that Bell, 79, suffers Meghan O’Sullivan travelled to North- tory archive, to act as a central reposi- from dementia, which will render him ern Ireland in 2013 to initiate talks on un- tory for personal accounts of the unable to follow the court proceedings. resolved issues including flags, parades Troubles. Meanwhile, other tapes from the and the past. The archive was envisioned to bring Belfast Project have made their way into Dealing with the past refers to how to together existing oral histories and elic- the possession of authorities in Nortthhern investigate and engage in truth recovery iting additional accounts. Ireland including those of loyalist ex- for over 3,000 unsolved murder in- Language in the SHA stresses the im- prisoner, Winston Churchill Rea. quiries related to the conflict. portance of ensuring tthhe operational in- In June 2016, Mr. Rea was charged for The U.S. led talks broke down without dependence of the archives and his involvement in the murders of two achieving agreement but were nonethe- acknowledges tthhe need to take measures Catholic workmen based on interview less a significant step towards develop- to protect contributors as well as careful tapes obtained from the Boston College ing consensus around contentious issues. consideration of when the information archive. These efforts are part of tthhe U.S. govern- collected should be made publicly avail- the conflict. The PSNI took action to acquire the ment’s long-standing commitment to se- able. However, the Executive’s policy However, this all began to fall apart in tapes when Mr. Rea told tthhe Belfast Tele- curing, protecting and strengthening a papers on the archive indicate that lim- 2010 when Ed Moloney, the lead re- graph that he would seek return of his peaceful Northern Ireland. ited protections have been put in place searcher on the college project, pub- tapes from the archive after another for- Following the unsuccessful Haass for contributors thus far. lished a book fittingly entitled “Voices mer loyalist wrote to Boston College de- talks, momentum again appeared to The absence of adequate legal protec- from the Grave,” after the deaths of two manding his interviews be returned. build in 2014 when the Northern Ireland tions for potential contributors is con- of the interviewees, which disclosed the Both men expressed concern about the Executive and the government signato- cerning because it may result in losing existence of the oral history project. impact the continuing threat of prosecu- ries of the Good Friday Agreement, these accounts forever and along with It was further disclosed that Dolours tions will have on future generation’s agreed to a set of proposals culminating them important lessons from the past. Price, who had served a sentence in re- ability to learn from the past. in the Stormont House Agreement of Potential contributors to an oral his- lation to the IRA bombing of the Old Most recently, the PPS targeted one of 23rd December 2014. tory archive have good reason to exer- Bailey, had provided interviews for the the former researchers on the project, However, implementation of the SHA cise caution and keep their secrets to project. Mr. McIntyre, for his alleged involve- stalled due to disagreements between themselves. Once the tapes became known to law ment in paramilitary activities during the parties. In the context of these political efforts enforcement in Northern Ireland, efforts the Troubles. Further talks between the UK and Irish to collect and learn from the pastt,, actions were taken to find a way to acquire Like Rea, Mr. McIntyre’s tapes became governments led to the publication of of the local Public Prosecution Service them. subject to a subpoena after he mentioned “A Fresh Start, the Stormont Agreement (PPS) acting on behalf of the Police Ser- Since the tapes were outside of the ju- on a BBC Spotlight program that recent and Implementation Plan” in November vice of Northern Ireland (PSNI) raise red risdiction of Northern Ireland law en- attempts by authorities to acquire the 2015. flags. forcement, the PPS submitted a request tapes put him “at as much risk as any- Yet, the Fresh Start Agreement failed For several years now the PPS has for international legal assistance to the one.” to realize any means to deal with the been embroiled in a number of legal bat- U.S. Attorney General’s office. Both of these examples illustrate that past. When referring to paragraphs 21- tles over its efforts to obtain confiden- The PPS issued a request for informa- the PSNI will initiate investigations 55 of the SHA, all that could be said was tially recorded interview tapes recorded tion pertaining to a high-profile murder when interviewees begin to talk about the following: for an academic research project at in 1972 of Jean McConville, a mother of their involvement in the Troubles in the “While progress has been made on Boston College known as the “Belfast ten whom the IRA suspected of being an course of an oral history project. most aspects of the legacy of tthhe past, we Project.” informer. Rea’s investigation began when he in- have been unable to agree a way for- Recordings of the interviews had been It is believed that the International Let- dicated that he wanted his recordings ward on some of the key issues.” donated to the college by former com- ter of Request (ILOR) sought informa- back whereas McIntyre found himself The SHA had proposed to set aside batants on the condition of strict confi- tion from the interviews of Brendan under investigation after making a com- funding to deal with the past including dentiality for the lifetime of the Hughes (deceased) and Dolours Price in ment that he was at just as much of a risk specific measures to preserve personal contributors. relation to Jean McConville’s murder. as anyone if his tapes were to be re- accounts from the Troubles. The hope was to record accounts from A second subpoena broadened the leased. Indeed the 2014 SHA proposed to set former paramilitaries on both sides of scope of inquiry to include any and all Continues on next page P a g e 1 3 / Echo Opinion I r i s h E c ECHR rights in the issuance of the UK’s prosecutorial authori- h LLYYNCH o the ILOR request. ties wishing to seek information / Continued from Page 12 A In Northern Ireland, the re- from abroad. P R I lease of an individual’s personal If Art.8 ECHR considerations L Pursuant to Section 7(5) of the 2 testimony raises a conflict be- do not prohibit prosecutorial au- 6 - Crime International Coopera- tween individual rights and thorities in Northern Ireland M A AY tion Act 2003 (CICA), law en- state responsibilities under the from receiving the documents, Y 2 forcement agencies in Northern ECHR.