Lagan Valley MLA Basil McCrea has supported a US Court’s decision that US authorities hand material contained in the archives of Boston College over to British authorities as soon as possible.

The material takes the form of accounts by former republican and loyalist terrorists as part of an oral history project.  

Mr McCrea, who represents the Ulster Unionist Party on the Stormont Justice Committee, said:

“I have no doubt that the revelations contained within the Boston College archive will be extremely embarrassing for republicans.

The so-called “republican movement” has – when it suited it – been extremely keen to live in the past and demand inquiries into all manner of events.

If we must confront the past in order to clear the pathway to the future, then the material contained in the Boston College archive is extremely relevant and not part of some abstract or historical academic exercise and several implications flow from this.

There are serious implications for certain individuals, as to who was really a member of which terrorist organisation, what role they played, who gave who orders and what those orders were. Republicans have often called for the establishment of some form of Truth and Reconciliation Commission as a means of dealing with the past. This is yet another test for them. They must provide Truth before they can expect any meaningful and lasting reconciliation.        

As events showed in the recent Presidential Election in the Republic of Ireland, the terrorist activities of the IRA have not been forgotten and I have no doubt that the PSNI will be extremely interested in the information contained in the Boston College archive.”