Tomás Ó Flatharta

Tommy McKearney (Former IRA Volunteer),  discusses the Boston Tapes Dispute with two other panelists – Norman Hamill, a former police officer, and  Roger Bailey, a psychologist. It is an excellent debate.

Link :

Former IRA Volunteer, an Ex Police Officer and a Psychologist Assess the Boston Archive

Norman Hamill’s Opinion :

The whole issue is enormously difficult but I think on balance I tend to come down on the side of thinking that the police are making a mistake in seeking these tapes because it is important that history is accurately recorded and that can make a contribution to our understanding.

And after all, we do have a mature attitude to the past now. People aren’t going to serve lengthy prison sentences for anything they’ve done.

So I think on balance it would have been better if the police had let this drop.

The Guardian (July 10) carries an Anthony McIntyre article :

Northern Ireland conflict archives should not fall into police hands

The British State is attempting to monopolise an “official version” of history :

Moreover, the double standards of the British state are on full display. It refuses access to the archives in the possession of its security services to the family of the murdered solicitor Pat Finucane, despite David Cameron admitting security force collusion in Finucane’s death.

What sort of history do we want? :

Ultimately, law enforcement agencies, which cannot escape culpability for Northern Ireland’s “dirty war”, are now trying to shape society’s knowledge of that war by seeking to monopolise control over what unfolds from the past while simultaneously relegating the role of academic and journalistic researchers. Any agency other than law enforcement is liable to be sabotaged. A law enforcement view of history is a partial and self-serving one, which seeks to conceal rather than reveal.

Link :

NI Conflict Archives Should Not fall Into Police Hands