Boston College must give prosecutors more transcripts and recordings from the Belfast Project, The Boston Globe has reported. A federal judge, William B. Young, has ruled that the college must release the records of seven people interviewed for the project, which collected accounts of participants in Northern Ireland’s sectarian troubles. Federal prosecutors, acting on behalf of the British government, want to see records related to the killing of Jean McConville, who was kidnapped and murdered in 1972 because she was suspected of being an informant. The case has researchers worried about their ability to guarantee confidentiality to oral-history subjects. “We are disappointed with [Young’s] ruling in light of the effect it will have on the enterprise of oral history,’’ Jack Dunn, a spokesman for the college, told the Globe in an e-mail. “We will take the time allotted us to review our legal options, which include the right to appeal this decision.’’ According to the Globe, it’s not yet clear whether U.S. prosecutors will turn the records over to the British authorities.
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