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REMAINS FOUND IN a grave in Co Monaghan are not those of Joe Lynskey, one of The Disappeared, investigators have confirmed.
Joe Lynskey is one of four of the remaining cases of the disappeared, which refers to a group of eighteen people believed to have been abducted and murdered by the IRA, most of which occurred during the Troubles.
The resulting DNA examination has eliminated the remains as being those of Joe Lynskey as well as those of the family to whom the grave belongs to, a statement from the Independent Commission for the Location of Victims’ Remains (ICLVR) said.
All interested parties, including the Lynskey family, have been informed.
Lynskey was a former Cistercian monk from the Beechmount area of west Belfast. He went missing during the summer of 1972.
The IRA took responsibility for his death in 2010. A spokesperson stated that he was killed and buried in an unmarked grave. It is understood that the remains found during the exhumation in November were not the only skeletal remains in the grave.
Joe Lynskey had been a member of the IRA, but fell foul of the organisation in the early 1970s and was abducted and murdered by the organisation.
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His murder was featured heavily in the Disney TV series Say Nothing about the activities of the IRA in Belfast during The Troubles.
The ICLVR said that the thoughts of everyone in the Commission are with the Lynskey family as they receive this “deeply disappointing” news.
It said: “We are also conscious that this was a distressing experience for the family whose grave was opened to facilitate the exhumation. We are grateful for their co-operation and support at all stages of the process.”
Irish justice minister Jim O’Callaghan has said his thoughts are with the Lynskey family, following the announcement this morning, and the family that the grave belongs to. He commended the Commission’s work, issuing his and the government’s support.
Jon Hill, a senior investigator with the ICLVR, told RTÉ Radio One’s Morning Ireland that the organisation does get inaccurate information from time-to-time, but he would not say it is disinformation as the details are usually provided “in good faith”.
“It’s just the nature of the work that we do. Unfortunately, these these events were never documented,” Hill said. “[The Disappeared] were never spoken about for many, many years. It’s well over 50 years since [Lynskey] even went missing.
“It wasn’t until 2010 that it was even accepted that he had been killed and disappeared. So it’s not surprising there’s a lack of information around the time when this happened, which makes it very difficult now to go back and try and recover from,” he added.
The ICLVR has appealed anyone with information about the disappearance of Joe Lynskey, Columba McVeigh, Robert Nairac or Seamus Maguire to come forward and provide it to to the Commission, where it will be treated “in the strictest confidence”.
Investigators will continue their work in the meantime, to locate and recover the remains of all the outstanding Disappeared case.
Includes reporting by Niall O’Connor
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