Long War In Ireland - Testimony Disclosure Scandal

The actions of the US University involved are a disgrace to trust, history and academic ethics in our opinion.

The battle in the US courts has triggered a moral tension between the demands of victims' families, who want the archives open to enable prosecutions for past Troubles' crimes, and those in academia and the media who say the only way to get the combatants in the conflict to speak truthfully is to guarantee they cannot be prosecuted while alive.

The St Andrews-based historian Richard English, author of Armed Struggle, which covers the history of the IRA, said: "People who have been involved in violent conflicts will now be more reluctant to speak with historians about their activities and their politics. In terms of research on the Northern Ireland conflict, this could have a disastrous effect. MORE