Opinion

The enduring uncertainty and pain of the families of the Disappeared - The Irish News view

Cautious optimism in the search for Captain Robert Nairac

A view from the Hill of Faughart in Co Louth where the search for the remains of Captain Robert Nairac, one of the Disappeared, is taking place
A view from the Hill of Faughart in Co Louth where the search for the remains of Captain Robert Nairac, one of the Disappeared, is taking place (Niall Carson/Niall Carson/PA Wire)
By The Irish News

The ordeal endured by the relatives of the group known as the Disappeared over the last 50 years and beyond has been unbearably cruel, and for some has sadly yet to result in the basic human right of a Christian funeral.

As has been well documented, 17 people were abducted and murdered by republicans during the worst days of the Troubles before being secretly buried at a range of locations on both sides of the border.

The IRA repeatedly denied involvement in the appalling saga, and gave completely misleading information to grieving relatives, until it became clear that the organisation was indeed behind almost all of the killings.

Republicans belatedly acknowledged their role, and eventually began to offer at least some form of assistance to the Independent Commission for the Location of Victims’ Remains (ICLVR), which was established by the Irish and British governments in 1999.

However, what was presented by the IRA as a definitive statement on the saga cynically omitted at least two cases, and it was only after investigations by this paper that the names of Joe Lynskey and Peter Wilson were added to the list.

Family members of Jean McConville were treated in a particularly callous way by senior republicans, who told blatant untruths after the widowed mother of ten vanished from her west Belfast home in 1972.

The IRA repeatedly denied involvement in the appalling saga of the Disappeared, and gave completely misleading information to grieving relatives

There was also no proper investigation by the RUC at the time, and it took a long and arduous campaign by her relatives before the remains of Mrs McConville were finally discovered on a beach in Co Louth in 2003.

A nine-part television drama about the circumstances surrounding the murder is due to be screened later this year, although Mrs McConville’s daughter, Helen McKendry, has expressed concerns about the production.

The ICLVR believes that four of the IRA’s missing victims have yet to be traced, and a high profile search for Captain Robert Nairac began in the Faughart area, just south of the border in Co Louth, earlier this week.

It is accepted that Captain Nairac was seized and shot dead while working undercover in south Armagh in 1977, but, despite many rumours about what happened next, his body has yet to be found.

Grenadier Guards Captain Robert Nairac talking to children in the Ardoyne area of Belfast in 1972
Grenadier Guards Captain Robert Nairac talking to children in the Ardoyne area of Belfast in 1972 (PA/PA)

ICLVR staff are understood to be excavating a relatively small piece of farmland, and are said to be cautiously optimistic that they will make progress in the coming days.

It will be strongly hoped that a breakthrough can be made, and that all the families of the Disappeared who are still suffering from uncertainty and pain can obtain the closure they deserve as soon as possible.