Woman's remains found near IRA site
The relatives of a woman murdered by the IRA over 30 years ago were facing the prospect of a long and anxious wait today, after the remains of a woman’s body were found.
Relatives of Jean McConville rushed from Belfast across the border to Co Louth after gardaí confirmed they had sealed off an area about a quarter of a mile from Templetown beach, near Carlingford.
The remains, in a shallow grave, were found by a man out walking with his children in an area where the IRA admitted four years ago they had buried Mrs McConville.
The 37-year-old vanished after being kidnapped in west Belfast in 1972 by a 12-strong gang for allegedly passing information to the British Army. It is also said that her tending to a soldier dying outside her Divis Flats home after an IRA attack contributed to her kidnapping.
Mrs McConville was one of nine alleged informers who became known as the Disappeared because the IRA never revealed where their remains were buried.
Mrs McConville’s son Michael, 41, and daughter Agnes, 44, were among relatives who went to the scene.
Mr McConville said: “I’m just hoping to bring this nightmare to an end.
“It has been 30 years of hell for all of us. I just hope it’s her to get this over and done with. All my concern is whether it’s my mother’s body.”
Two searches of Templetown beach, one lasting 50 days, were carried out during the summer of 1999 and May last year. Nothing was found.
Those searches took place after the IRA admitted in 1999 that it had killed nine of what are known as the “disappeared” – people who vanished at the height of the troubles and were presumed to have been buried in hidden graves by the IRA.
Gardaí said it could take between six and eight weeks to conclusively identify the body through a DNA process, adding that the remains may have to be sent to England.
A Garda spokesman said: “We believe that the body may be that of a female based on some items of clothing found there.
He added the “skeletal remains” were going to Dundalk for a post-mortem examination, which will seek to establish the cause of death.
The parish priest for Carlingford, Father McParland, lead prayers at the scene with members of Mrs McConville’s family before a hearse took the body away to be examined just after 8.30pm.
Mrs McConville’s daughter, Helen McKendry, said she hoped the discovery would end the family’s misery.
“All these years waiting and not knowing anything but we have always had the feeling the body was there,” she said
“I’m just hoping and praying it is so we can have an end to all this, but our hopes have been raised so many times.”
The bodies of three of the nine “disappearedd” were recovered after the IRA eventually owned up and admitted their guilt. All had been shot in the head.
A Sinn Féin source said last night they were mindful that the families concerned continue to suffer great trauma.
He said: “Our thoughts remain with them at this difficult time.
“Their feelings should be respected by all and adding to speculation won’t ease what the families are going through.”
