Ex-IRA man ‘willing to risk jail’ to protect his sources

A former IRA volunteer turned writer has told a conference he is willing to go jail to protect sources he interviewed as part of the controversial Belfast Project.

At the second annual Oral History Network of Ireland conference in Ennis on Saturday, Anthony McIntyre told delegates if someone who played a role in the conflict in the North came to him now to tell their story “I wouldn’t take it, as I can’t guarantee that I can protect my sources”.

Currently, Mr McIntyre and journalist Ed Moloney are involved in legal actions on both sides of the Atlantic to prevent the Police Service of Northern Ireland obtaining tapes of interviews they carried out with combatants in the Northern conflict.