A SEARCH FOR the remains of Robert Nairac, who was murdered and secretly buried by the IRA, has ended without success.
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 Co Louth where he was beaten and shot dead.
Nairac is one of the ‘Disappeared’ victims of the Troubles whose bodies have yet to be found.
The joint Commissioners of the Independent Commission for the Location of Victims Remains (ICLVR) approved plans in late August to conduct a search in the Faughart area of Co Louth for Nairac’s remains.
It was the first search for his remains and the joint Commissioners Tim Dalton and Rosalie Flanagan said it is “bitterly disappointing” that it ended without success.
Dalton and Flanagan said their “thoughts are with the Nairac family, in particular his sisters Rosemonde and Gabrielle”.
They added: “The investigation and search team did everything they could to bring about a successful outcome, but clearly more information is needed and we would appeal to anyone who has information to bring it to the Commission.
“They can do so in the knowledge that their identity and any information provided will be treated in the strictest confidence.”
Prior to the search, Jon Hill, the Lead Investigator of the ICLVR, acknowledged that Nairac’s case “is one in which we have had very little to go on”.
Speaking in August, Hill said that while “former PIRA people had supported” almost every other effort to recover the remains of the Disappeared, this had not been the case regarding Nairac.
The search in Co Louth was in a small area of less than one acre, and Hill today said the team still believes that the information given to them was credible, despite the fact that Nairac’s remains weren’t found.
“It is our experience from other searches that while we have been in the right area, the precise location has not been found the first time round,” said Hill.
“There is always a concern that once it is known that we are starting a search in a particular area, it is assumed that we have all the information that we need and people who could help may think there is no need for them to talk to us.
“Nothing could be further from the truth.”
Hill appealed for anyone who may have information to come forward and added that the information and their identity will be treated in the strictest confidence.
He added that the ICLVR’s sole interest is in “returning the remains of Robert Nairac to his family so that he can be laid to rest following a proper funeral”.
“Not being able to do that for nearly 50 years is a source of great pain and anguish to his now elderly sisters and the wider family,” said Hill, who added: “We need to be able to end that suffering.”
The ICLVR is also appealing for information regarding three other outstanding Disappeared cases —Joe Lynskey, Seamus Maguire, and Columba McVeigh.
A sixth search for McVeigh’s remains in a bog in Co Monaghan ended without success last November.
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