Morrow welcomes Boston tapes ruling
A DUNGANNON assemblyman has welcomed the US court ruling ordering the Boston Tapes to be released to the PSNI.
“This is a significant step toward establishing the truth into the horrific murder of Jean McConville in 1972,” Lord Morrow, an MLA for Fermanagh and South Tyrone, said. “I welcome the judge’s decision rejecting the challenge put forward by Ed Maloney and Anthony McIntyre, to withhold the interviews of Dolours Price, even though Boston College were satisfied to let those be handed over. The appeal court has now ruled neither Moloney nor McIntyre have no right to stop the release.
“We are told McIntyre and others fear being branded informants, which was one of the reasons for their legal challenge, along with an alleged ‘chilling effect’ on other academic research projects.
“Personally I fail to see the relevance in such projects when a murder investigation is being carried out. Mrs McConville was abducted and murdered on the alleged charge of being a British spy and her blood remains on the hands of those who ordered and committed this repulsive crime.
“At a time when, amongst others, republicans rejoice in the announcement of a PSNI investigation into Bloody Sunday, the release of these tapes for a separate incident which has haunted Northern Ireland for almost as long, must be welcomed by all right thinking people. It will be interesting to see if Sinn Fein are as vociferous in their support of this PSNI investigation as they are with that of Bloody Sunday.
“However, the remarks of one of their senior members, Mitchell McLaughlin, must be recalled when in 2005 he claimed the killing of Jean McConville ‘was not a criminal act, given the context of the Troubles and of the belief that she had been a British spy’. That’s the typical dysfunctional rhetoric rolled out when Sinn Fein encounter an inconvenient truth, and which they lambast others for applying when the shoe is on the other foot.
“I sincerely hope the content of the Boston Tapes provides the PSNI with the evidence they require to piece together exactly what happened to this widowed mother, who sought to comfort a dying soldier, and to bring all those responsible to justice.
“I also hope it is simply a matter of time before all the relevant material held at Boston College is released for in-depth investigation,” Lord Morrow concluded.
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Saturday 18 May 2013
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