Mary White (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Last summer the Fianna Fáil Party was privileged to have many young people from Boston College take up an internship. I was honoured to have a young lady called Ms Kate Moran as an intern who played a very important part in the production of my policy paper on women entrepreneurs. She is an example of the calibre of the young people who came here as interns so it is no surprise that Boston College is one of the most revered universities in the United States.
Sadly, a dark shadow has been cast over the college as can be learned from an article in this morning's Irish Independent entitled "University historians distance themselves from 'Boston Tapes'". The article refers to historians in Boston College who have distanced themselves from the controversial Boston tapes project where interviews held by Boston College were used by PSNI officers last week when interviewing the Sinn Féin leader, Gerry Adams. Speaking on RTE radio this morning Mr. Jack Dunne, spokesperson for Boston College, said that the two interviewers on the tapes showed incredible bias. He also said they failed to observe normal academic procedures into projects of oral history and used leading questions with no visible attempt at balance. The fact is that the Boston tapes were never meant to be part of current affairs but were intended to remain as an oral history project.
Professor Weiler, professor of history at Boston College, said that the project had "tarnished the reputation" of the college's history department. Professor Robin Fleming, the current chair of the college's history department, said press reports referring to the tapes as their project were "fundamentally inaccurate". Both Professor Weiler and Professor Fleming have vehemently stated that neither of the two interviewers heard on the tapes were employed by the college's history department. I believe it is extremely unfair that the actions of two people, neither of whom was employed by the college, can tarnish the reputation of Boston College.
The Governments of Ireland, the United States and Britain and hundreds of people have invested time and energy into keeping the peace process stable. Last week many boundaries were crossed that could lead to a breakdown of peace. Most people on this part of the island do not realise that the peace process is at risk and that many elements of society - both loyalists and extreme republicans - are dying to get back into war again. Therefore, I support Senator Ó Murchú's call for an immediate debate on the Northern Ireland peace process.
Finally, I second the proposed amendment to the Order of Business tabled by my colleague, Senator David Cullinane. Go raibh míle maith agat.