Boston College is due on Thursday to formally seek to overturn an application that would compel the university to hand over taped interviews given by former IRA prisoner Anthony McIntyre as part of the Belfast Project.
The British government, acting on behalf of the PSNI and the office of the North’s Director of Public Prosecution, last month served a subpoena on Boston College seeking access to Dr McIntyre’s personal interviews.
Historian Dr McIntyre, who served time in prison on an IRA murder conviction, was involved in interviewing 26 republicans as part of the oral history of the Troubles project.
Dr McIntyre also gave an interview about his IRA involvement during the conflict to another interviewer as part of the project.
Last month, Boston College's spokesman Jack Dunn said the "subpoena was issued in proceedings that the United States District Court ordered sealed, and Boston College was requested to treat the proceedings and the subpoena as confidential".
He added that, nevertheless, the college notified Dr McIntyre of the subpoena because it felt he should be informed his interview was requested.
On Wednesday, Mr Dunn told The Irish Times that Boston College intended to "file a motion to quash the subpoena as they have with the previous subpoenas".
The matter, however, is under seal in the US federal court and our filing will not be public,” he added.
It is likely to be some time before the court issues its judgment on the matter.
