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The battle over the confidentiality of oral testimony held by Boston College and related to the Northern Ireland Troubles is no longer a contest solely pitting the Jesuit university against the U.S. Attorney's office.
Ed Moloney and Anthony McIntyre, who conducted the more than 20 interviews that make up the archival "Belfast Project" last week filed a motion to intervene in the federal court case in which the PSNI and Public Prosecution Service in Northern Ireland are seeking to compel Boston College to turn over confidential records of the Northern Ireland Oral History Archives that are maintained there under strict security protocols and access restrictions.
"We allege," stated attorney Eamonn Dornan, who is acting for Moloney and McIntyre, "that the Attorney General, who has the authority to grant or to deny the subpoena request, has failed to fulfill his duties under the Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty.
"That treaty," said Dornan, "requires Attorney General Eric Holder to review the public policy implications of the subpoenas, especially the obligations of other treaties, such as the Belfast (Good Friday) Agreement of 1998 and the U.S.-U.K. Extradition Treaty.
"Moreover," concluded Dornan, "there is an explicit obligation for the Attorney General to consult British authorities 'prior' to issuing the subpoenas.
New York-based journalist and author Moloney, the archive project manager, and McIntyre, the lead researcher, also argue that at the heart of the case is the protection of sources.
Both assert that they are wholly committed to the protection of the interviewees who participated in Boston College's oral history project. Moreover, they argue that the release of the records/tapes will raise the level of risk to the lives of a number of people associated with the project.
They also assert that the British authorities are acting in bad faith against the intent and spirit of the treaties named in their filing.
Acting on its own, Boston College has thus far resisted attempts by the U.S. Attorney's office in Boston, acting on behalf of the PSNI, to gain access to the archive.
Initial efforts by the DA's office were aimed at securing the testimonies of former IRA volunteers Brendan Hughes (now deceased) and Dolours Price.
However, Boston Globe columnist Kevin Cullen recently reported that the latest court filings show that federal authorities now want "anything and everything" in the BC secret archive related to the 1972 disappearance and murder of a Belfast mother of 10, Jean McConville, who was abducted and executed by the IRA as a suspected informer.
Prosecutors argue that BC had no authority to grant confidentiality, and that no academic privilege exists when a crime is involved, in this instance the murder of McConville.
The Globe reported that Boston College "was cool in its response" to the effort by Moloney and McIntyre to intervene in the case.
"We obviously share the same goal in the outcome of this matter, but these filings, which we are just now reviewing, may not necessarily reflect the views of Boston College," BC spokesman, Jack Dunn, told the Globe.
Christina DiIorio Sterling, a spokeswoman for U.S. Attorney in Boston, Carmen Ortiz, declined comment to the paper.
U.S. District Court Judge, Joseph Tauro, is expected to schedule a hearing in the near future.
