Republican targeted by PSNI using his own academic work

Attempts by the PSNI police to gain access to a former IRA Volunteer’s interviews for an American university project are just a “fishing expedition”, a court has heard.

Lawyers for Anthony McIntyre, a researcher and blogger, have launched legal action over attempts to gain access to the interviews he recorded as a part of the oral history project he worked on with Boston College.

They say recordings of his activities stored at Boston College only contain details of IRA actions for which he has already served a prison sentence.

They are taking legal action to stop efforts by the PSNI and Public Prosecution Service to gain access to the tapes.

McIntyre was one of the main researchers in the project which saw dozens of republicans provide testimonies to Boston College on the understanding their account would only be made public after they died.

But those assurances proved meaningless when the PSNI obtained transcripts and tapes of interviews given by former IRA woman Dolours Price.

Now the authorities want access to McIntyre’s recorded recollection of his own IRA actions. A subpoena seeking copies of his interviews has been served on Boston College by the British government.

McIntyre’s lawyers have launched a legal action at the High Court in Belfast.

According to the barrister, Mr McIntyre was in jail between 1976 and 1992, and has only been questioned about another alleged offence committed within prison.

“In June 1978 he was questioned about possession of an imitation firearm found in a pair of platform shoes,” Mr Lavery said. “There’s no suggestion of any offence committed since that date.”

Urgent Appeal