The Stasi Records Act as a Precedent for Historical Truth-Telling

This episode features an interview with the current Ambassador of Germany to Ireland, David Gill, about his experiences and reflections as a key member of the movement in the early 1990s that preserved and ensured disclosure of the Stasi Records.

Ambassador Gill held the positions of Chairman of Normannenstraße Citizens' Committee at the Headquarters of the Ministry of State Security (1990); Head of Administration, Parliamentary Special Committee for the Dissolution of the GDR Ministry of State Security / Office of National Security (1990); and Spokesman and Head of Division of the Federal Commissioner for the Files of the State Security Service of the former GDR (1990-1992).

Ambassador Gill is interviewed by Dagmar Hovestädt, Adjunct Professor at the Irish Centre for Human Rights and an internationally recognised expert on archives, human rights, and transitional justice, with over two decades of experience in journalism, strategic communications, and archival research. Formerly Head of Outreach and Research at the Stasi Records Archive in Berlin, Dagmar led major initiatives on public engagement, international collaboration, and the role of archives in addressing past human rights abuses.

Dr Maeve O'Rourke, Senior Lecturer at the Irish Centre for Human Rights, also joins the discussion to consider the relevance of the Stasi Records Act to truth-telling in Ireland - particularly in relation to institutional and family separation abuses, the records of which remain largely inaccessible to affected people.