PRONI Annual Releases
The PRONI Annual Release of selected official files continues against a background of greater public access through the Freedom of Information Act (2000), balanced against the need to protect personal information.
'PRONI Annual Release' explained
Every year since 1976, official records held by PRONI which are 30 years old have been reviewed and some made publicly available.
In September 2011 the time limit for the release changed from 30 years to 20 years. This change is being phased in over 10 years, with two years’ worth of records being reviewed and released each year.
In 2025, the records of Northern Ireland (NI) departments and the Northern Ireland Office (NIO) -
- with a terminal date of 2004 and 2005 were brought forward for release during December
This process involves the referral of the files to the Responsible Authority for sensitivity review. This entails a page by page examination to make sure that a record contains nothing sensitive as defined by the Freedom of Information Act (FOI), General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the Data Protection Act (DP).
Records released in December 2025
- 1160 files being deemed as suitable for release as “fully open”
- a further 284 files are open but keeping to blanking out of some content
- 39 files will stay closed in full
Issues covered
Some of the significant issues covered by the 2004 and 2005 release include:
- Programme for Government (PfG), New Targeting Social Need (TSN), Promoting Social Inclusion (PSI), Government Administration (e.g. Ministerial Briefings, Executive Committee Meetings), Suspension of Devolved Government, Review of Belfast Agreement
- North/South and East/West Cooperation: British Irish Parliamentary Body, North South Ministerial Council and Implementation Bodies, Northern Ireland Affairs Committee
- Europe: Strategy and Policy, International Fund for Ireland, State Aids, European Monetary Union
- NICS: Departmental Board and Senior Management Meetings, Review of Public Administration, Equal Opportunities
- Civil Contingencies and Emergency Planning
- Emergency Services and Social Welfare: Health Issues, Human Organs Inquiry, Waiting Lists, Child Support Agency, Anti-Social Behaviour Order (ASBO)
- Education: Further and Higher Education, Integrated Education, Special Education, Teachers Industrial Action
- Economy & Society: Regional Economic Policy, Economic Research (Industry), Migrants
- Energy and Utilities: Power Supply, Renewables, Reducing Costs, Rathlin Island Electricity Project, Water Service Reform
- Transport and Infrastructure: Harbours and Ports, Derry to Dublin Air Service, Railways Review Group, Belfast Metropolitan Area Plan, Road Safety
- Regeneration and Development: Laganside Corporation, Development of the North West, Rural Development
- Tourism: Giant's Causeway, Ballycastle - Campbeltown Ferry
- Agriculture and Environment: Animal Health (TB, Brucellosis, Foot and Mouth Disease 20-day Standstill, Swine Fever), Genetic Modification, Climate Change Impacts, Countryside Management Scheme
- Language, Culture and Identity: Language Rights, Charter on Regional or Minority Languages, Flags and Emblems
- Legacy Issues: Victims, Sectarian Violence, Community Relations, Loyalist Outreach
Full and partial closure
Records may be closed either fully or in part only. Partial closure involves the removal of a limited number of papers from the files to make them suitable for release under FOI.
For the release of as much information as possible, redaction can be used to blank out sensitive data within individual documents to make them suitable for release.
All information which is withheld, must be kept as per the exemptions contained within the FOI Act. In most cases, the reason for extended closure was the application of section 40 which is the personal information exemption of the FOI Act. This means that personal information can't be published as this would break the Data Protection principles.
Note that any file reference which ends with an ‘A’ means that an open part of a file has had certain information partly removed or blanked out due to a FOI Exemption.
What's usually published
More recently, PRONI publishes:
A full list of all files brought forward for release in a given year, containing:
- access decision
- PRONI reference number
- file covering dates
- short description (usually no more than one line)
- department file number
A highlights list of ‘opened’ files which may be of particular historical significance, containing:
- PRONI reference number
- file covering dates
- longer description (usually a paragraph)
- department file number