Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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Question 23: To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade his position in relation to the release of the Belfast Oral History project materials from Boston College; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [36871/12]

Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)
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In March 2011 the British Government, acting on behalf of the Police Service of Northern Ireland, initiated proceedings with the US Department of Justice under the Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty between the two countries for the release of archived interviews held in Boston College. The archives are part of the Belfast Project, an oral history of Republican and Loyalist paramilitaries compiled by Mr McIntyre and Mr Moloney and deposited in the . Legal challenges were launched by Boston College, and separately by Mr MacIntyre and Mr Moloney, to prevent the release of the material. In December 2011, these challenges were dismissed by US District Court Judge William Young. Further legal efforts by Mr MacIntyre and Mr Moloney were made but on 6 July, the US Federal Court of Appeal turned down their appeal.

The court ruling means that the archived material must be handed over by Boston College to the US authorities for onward transmission to their British counterparts. However Mr Moloney and Mr McIntyre are considering a motion for a re-hearing of the case. They also continue to keep their legal options open in the Belfast Courts.

A number of factors inform the Government's views on this matter. The issue is subject to a Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty between the US and British governments. The issue also has a bearing on how we deal with the past generally. We need to find sensitive ways of dealing with the past that meet the needs of victims and the bereaved.

Clearly the case is a matter that the Courts in the United States have spoken on and may do so again, as may the Courts in Northern Ireland. Officials of my Department will continue to closely monitor any further developments.