It was supposed to be an oral record of the Troubles, made by the paramilitaries, and initially the ‘Boston Tapes’ project seemed like a really good idea, albeit one which would include descriptions of violence and terror. 

The concept was simple – former paramilitaries would be interviewed, the tapes would then be kept in storage, and their stories only revealed after the interviewee’s deaths. 

But it became clear that the scheme was flawed and that the recordings were not as secret as participants assumed.

Now the Belfast Telegraph can reveal that the Boston College tapes archive has been formally closed - and will remain so for 75 years from when it was first created

• What was the Boston Tapes project?
• What went wrong?
• And why have the records been sealed?

Ciarán Dunbar is joined by Belfast Telegraph reporter, Andrew Madden.

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