Public records
Some public records contain information that is deemed to be exempt from release under the Freedom of Information Act. For a detailed explanation and list of the exemptions that can be applied to historical public records please see the Information Commissioner’s website.
You can request access to a public record which is closed under the Freedom of Information Act. To do so you can contact PRONI in writing via letter, email or by submitting a PRONI enquiry form online.
Privately deposited archives
Terms of deposit
The Public Records Act (Northern Ireland) 1923 gives PRONI authority to accept privately deposited archives such as the papers of local political parties, businesses, private individuals, landed estates, solicitors’ firms, etc.
Private depositors may retain ownership and therefore control over access to the records given over to PRONI’s custody. Private depositors tend to apply different restrictions on access to their records, including:
Time-bounded closures where the records are closed to public access for a set period of 30 or more years, depending on the sensitivity of the records.
An example of this would be the papers of a local politician whose private correspondence may be closed for 30 years.
‘Privileged access’, where in response to written requests from researchers, the depositor may grant access.
An example of this would be the Ulster Unionist Council (UUC) papers or the archive of the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP).
You may request access to an archive which is currently closed at the request of the depositor by contacting PRONI in writing via letter, email, or by submitting a PRONI enquiry form online.
Preservation grounds
The archive or document has been closed on preservation grounds. The document may be too fragile to be produced to the public and has been placed on a list to receive conservation treatment.
The records held in PRONI are of differing type, age and quality and come in many forms, including paper, parchment, microfilm, glass plate negatives, photographs and tapes. Through continual use, or merely as a result of the poor original condition of the document, it may be necessary to deny access to a document until has been attended to by our conservation team.
You may request information from a particular archive which is currently closed on preservation grounds by contacting PRONI in writing via letter, email or by submitting a PRONI enquiry form online.
Records that have not yet been catalogued
The archive or document may be closed because it has not yet been catalogued.
PRONI has a duty to ensure that archives in its custody are properly listed to international cataloguing standards. However, in certain circumstances an archive may not have been catalogued at the time of deposit.
PRONI has an ongoing cataloguing programme so you may request access to a particular archive which is currently un-catalogued by contacting PRONI in writing via letter, email, or by submitting a PRONI enquiry form online.