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Updated 6.28 pm
A SEARCH FOR the remains of one of the Disappeared will begin in Meath within days, the organisation responsible for recovering the bodies has said.
The Independent Commission for the Location of Victims Remains (ICLVR) will carry out a ground survey as part of its search for Brendan Megraw at a bog in Oristown, county Meath next week.
The particular stretch of land being examined has never been looked at before as part of the investigation into the disappearance and murder of the 23-year-old in 1978.
Senior forensic investigator Geoff Knupfer told Good Morning Ulster that next week’s search will be a “continuation” of other efforts. He was not over optimistic while speaking to the BBC radio programme this morning, saying the chances of finding the body were “not enormous”.
“No-one, least of all Brendan’s family, is under any illusion that this is anything other than a huge task.”
However, he also said:
“We’ve undertaken two or three phases previously. They are all adjoining one another which would indicate… that we’ve been told where to go, where to look and, really, it’s a continuation of that process.”
Archaeologists will use ground-penetrating radar to look for anomalies below the surface that could call for further investigation.
Megraw’s wife was expecting their first baby when the newlywed was abducted from his own home in Twinbrook, Belfast in April 1978. This will be the fourth proper search for his remains, the most recent being an unsuccessful attempt four years ago.
He is one of 16 people – known as the Disappeared – who were kidnapped, murdered and buried by the IRA. Nine of their bodies have been recovered.
The IRA claimed that Megraw admitted to being a British provocateur and Military Reaction Force undercover agent.
Fianna Fáil’s Brendan Smith has been a vocal campaigner on the issue of the Disappeared has has welcomed the news that a new search for Megraw has been commenced.
Smith says the search can serve as reminder for people who may have information that they can still help families seeking their loved ones.
“I want to take this opportunity again to call on all members of the public who might have any information about the location of the people whom we know as ‘the Disappeared’ to contact An Garda Síochána of the Independent Commission and for once and for all give finality to the families concerned,” he said.
- Additional reporting by Rónán Duffy
Great to see – now lets really tackle packaging waste and force business to make the environmentally correct choice when choosing their packaging – We need to get rid of plastic bottles, plastic wrapping and one off coffee cups and lids
@brian boru:
Bring in another tax…..
@P.J. Nolan: not all taxes are bad – some make sense and others are just greedy – if taxes make it cost effective for a business to do the right thing then it is a good tax in my book. Some are greedy and corrupt like the Irish water plan and need to be fought but smart taxation can be beneficial to society.
All the chocolate bar companies have moved to plastic wrapping because it costs less. Like wise the soft drink companies have moved to plastic bottles because they are prettier. Neither are thinking about the environment and need to be forced to rethink their packaging plans. Taxation is the fastest route to getting these huge companies to change their game plan at the speed we need it to happen.
@brian boru: I would be far more comfortable if chocolate bars once again came in paper and foil. I know they wont recycle the foil but i’m sure it does far less than damage to the environment than plastic.
@Darren Byrne: The plastic gives a longer shelf life so the chocolate companies are using it to give them higher margins at the cost of the environment. Regulatory needs to step in and drive a higher cost to the manufacturer for using the plastic due to the environmental cost. Am sure if the right pressure was applied a solution could be arranged that worked for everyone. The only lever I can think of in this situation is taxation as expecting people to make the change will take generations.
@brian boru: I’m sure it does give longer shelf life, but surely chocolate is a fast-selling item with a high turnover rate? And once bought? I’ve often eaten a square or two and put it away for a week or so, okay, I’m odd, but a lot of people seem to eat bars very quickly once they have some in the house – I’ve even heard of people freezing a bar to keep it for later. I honestly don’t see chocolate as being in any danger of going off before it’s consumed.
It’s fantastic the system works, now let’s solve the plastic bottles ( bottle water ) and the coffee cup problem .
Great and more to be done… especially with plastic
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/plasticpledge/?beta=true
Where are all the reusable items stripped out of the WEEE appliances. Is it Ireland, UK, Europe.
Surely it’s not Africa where all that toxic stuff is released in both the air and the soil/water, by burning all that plastic stuff that covers wires and other components by folks trying to scrape a living together ?
Any answers appreciated. Hope I’m wrong.
Is a dildo a small appliance? Just asking
@Seriously stunned: that all depends on the wife’s choice in style
@Seriously stunned: that all depends on the wife’s choice in style
If domestic appliances were designed and built to last longer than the now average 5 to 10 years lifespan then recycling would be greatly reduced.The average lifespan of some appliances twenty or thirty years ago was averaging ten to twenty years .Most appliances now have built in obsolescence.
Great, but after the specials on Aldi and Lidl this Sunday, we’ll need extra capacity!
You are going to have a great bunch of lads moistening their lips when you talk about that much copper
This just demonstrates the amount of junk we buy throw out and replace. Thats not sustainable
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