A SEARCH WILL get underway later for the remains of Robert Nairac, who was murdered and secretly buried by the IRA.

Nairac was a British Army officer who was abducted by the IRA while on an undercover operation in the Three Steps Bar in Dromintee in south Armagh in May 1977.

He was then taken to Flurry Bridge in County Louth where he was beaten and shot dead and his remains have never been found.

Nairac is one of the ‘Disappeared’ victims of the Troubles whose bodies have yet to be found.

Nairac’s family have been told that a search is about to commence and will be informed of any developments.

The joint Irish and UK Commissioners of the Independent Commission for the Location of Victims Remains (ICLVR) have approved plans to conduct a search in the Faughart area of Co Louth Nairac’s remains.

It will be the first search for the remains of Nairac.

Speaking ahead of today’s search, Jon Hill, the Lead Investigator of the ICLVR, remarked that Nairac is “one of the highest profile Disappeared and yet his case is one in which we have had very little to go on”.

However, Hill said he believes the ICLVR now has “sufficient credible information to warrant a search”.

He added that the search will differ from one recently completed, without success, for Columba McVeigh at Bragan Bog in Co Monaghan.

McVeigh was a 19-year-old from Donaghmore in Co Tyrone and was last seen in November 1975.

He too was abducted, murdered and secretly buried by the IRA.

Image of Columba McVeigh

A sixth search for McVeigh’s remains in a bog in Co Monaghan ended without success last November.

Hill said today’s search is being carried out on private land and added that the land owner and tenant farmer “have asked us not to reveal its precise location for reasons of privacy which we fully understand and I hope that is respected”.

However, Hill remarked that he wanted to “make it clear that neither the landowner nor the tenant has any connection whatsoever with our decision to search in this particular location”.

The area to be searched is less than one acre and Hill noted that “farmland is inherently more stable than the bogland we have had to work on in other searches for the Disappeared”.

Hill also expressed hope that the weather will be in their favour and “that we will get a relatively clear run at this one”.

He also remarked that the site being searched is part of an area of significant archaeological interest.

“We are grateful for the support and co-operation of the National Monuments Service who have an interest in the wider area in which the Hill of Faughart has been identified as a 14th century battle site,” said Hill before today’s search.

Hill said it is possible that the team may uncover archaeology or historic remains during the search and that as a result, additional measures are being taken.

However, he added that it is not anticipated that this will “cause any insurmountable issues with our search”.

As with all of the ICLVR’s searches, Hill said today’s search will “continue until we have found the remains that we are looking for or are satisfied that they are not there”.

But given the “relatively small area” to be searched, Hill said he doesn’t expect it to be a “protracted search period of many months”.

Hill added: “I am not going to put a number on the degree of confidence that we have that we will find the remains of Robert Nairac but what I can say is that if they are there, we have the skills, ability and experience to find them”.

Hill also appealed to anyone who may have information on the four outstanding Disappeared cases – Robert Nairac, Columba McVeigh, Joe Lynskey, Seamus Maguire – to make contact with the ICLVR.

The ICLVR said “all information is treated in the strictest confidence” and it can be contacted by telephone on +353 1 602 8655

E-mails can also be sent to Secretary@iclvr.ie, via post to ICLVR PO Box 10827, and the independent charity CrimeStoppers can also be contacted via an anonymous online form at www.crimestoppers-uk.org.