Press release
Minister McEntee calls on those with information on the Disappeared to provide it to the Independent Commission for the Location of Victims’ Remains
Published on
Last updated on
Published on
Last updated on
The Minister for Justice Helen McEntee has called on those with information on the Disappeared to provide it to the Independent Commission for the Location of Victims’ Remains.
The ICLVR is responsible for facilitating the location of the remains of victims of paramilitary violence (known as 'the Disappeared') who were murdered and secretly buried. The role of the ICLVR is purely humanitarian. Its only aim is to recover the remains of the disappeared in order to allow the families to give their loved ones a proper burial.
Minister McEntee said:
“My thoughts are with the family of Columba McVeigh at this difficult time. We all hope that this latest search at Bragan Bog in County Monaghan will be successful.
"I recently met with the Commission and their dedication to their task is clear. The families of the Disappeared have had to endure a particular cruelty, facing not only the tragedy and injustice of losing a loved one to murder, but not knowing for decades where that loved one was buried.
"At this time we think also of the other families who still await the return of their loved ones’ remains. The Commission’s investigations are complicated and difficult, and information from the public is crucial to its work.
"Someone out there may know something that might help. I would call on anyone with information that could help recover the remains of those still missing to pass that information to the Commission without delay, safe in the knowledge that it will be treated in the strictest confidence."
Columba McVeigh was a 19 year old single man from Donaghmore, Co. Tyrone who had moved to Dublin. He disappeared on 31 October 1975 and is believed to have been secretly buried at Bragan bog in co. Monaghan. Five previous searches of the area have not succeeded in locating his remains.
The Independent Commission for the Location of Victims’ Remains (ICLVR) was established by an Agreement between the Government of Ireland and the Government of the United Kingdom signed on 27 April 1999, and by legislation enacted in both jurisdictions. The ICLVR is responsible for facilitating the location of the remains of victims of paramilitary violence who were murdered and secretly buried arising from the conflict in Northern Ireland. Further information is available at www.iclvr.ie
Information about the missing victims is fundamental to the ICLVR’s work. The ICLVR needs further information to be able to progress its investigations into the remaining disappeared victims - Joe Lynskey, Robert Nairac, Columba McVeigh and Seamus Maguire.
The Commission has in place a confidential free-phone number and post office box address through which information can be passed to it. Any such information will be treated in the strictest confidence and will not be used for any purpose other than locating the remains of victims.
The ICLVR can be contacted in confidence by: