Victim’s sister appeals for Disappeared ‘jigsaw’ to be completed

The sister of one of the remaining missing Disappeared victims has made a plea for information during the 10th annual silent walk by families at Stormont.

Relatives of those who were abducted, killed and secretly buried by republican paramilitaries staged the walk to mark All Souls Day on Wednesday.

A black wreath was laid at the steps of Parliament Buildings to remember the 17 Disappeared victims.

Dympna Kerr helped carry the wreath, which had four lilies representing those who have not yet been recovered.

Her brother Columba McVeigh from Donaghmore, Co Tyrone was 19 years old when he was abducted and killed in October 1975.

Despite extensive searches, his body has never been found.Dympna told UTV her biggest fear was never finding her sibling’s remains.

“Forty-one years on Halloween, Columba was taken out of a pub in Dublin, and that was the last we [saw of him],” she said.

“At the time we didn’t know it, and it only became knowledge to us as part of the Good Friday Agreement.

“As each year goes on it seems to get harder and I don’t know whether it’s because we’re getting older, I think it is. At the end of the day there’s only really three of us that know Columba now and what happens when we’re no longer here.”

“My mum’s wish was to put him in a grave in Donaghmore and her wish was to put him in before she went into it, but she died in 2007, she didn’t get her wish,” she continued.

“So it’s our wish to put him in there before we leave this earth. We’re not getting any younger and somebody out there has a vital piece of information and they know it. That’s what we want, we want them to come forward.

“Give that last little bit of information. They have helped out in the past, to that we are grateful, all they need to do is the last little bit. It’s like a jigsaw, it’s not finished until you put that final part in.”

To date, the Independent Commission for the Location of Victims' Remains (ICLVR) has recovered the remains of 13 people abducted, murdered and secretly buried during the Troubles.

Last June Kevin McKee and Seamus Wright were found in a shallow grave in Coghalstown, Co Meath.

An inquest into their deaths is due to be held in Dublin later this month.

As well as Columba McVeigh, the remains of Seamus Ruddy, cistercian monk Joe Lynskey and SAS-trained Captain Robert Nairac have not yet been located.

It is believed Columba was secretly buried at Bragan bog near Emyvale in Co Monaghan, but four digs – the most recent in September 2013 – have proved unsuccessful.

Seamus Ruddy who disappeared from Paris in 1985 and was murdered by the INLA is thought to have been secretly buried in northern France.

Geoff Knupfer, head of the investigation team for the ICLVR, said searches for his remains are in the pipeline.

“There are four outstanding cases, we are working away behind the scenes on, it is distinctly possible that we might go back to France in the not too distant future to do some more work on trying to locate Seamus Ruddy’s body,” he explained.

“We are talking to the French authorities and we will just have to see how that unfolds.”

• Anyone with information about the Disappeared can contact the ICLVR's confidential telephone number on 00800 5558 5500 or write to them on ICLVR, PO BOX, 10827, Dublin 2.