4. Letter to the Chairman of the Committee from
the Rt Hon Shaun Woodward MP, Secretary of State for Northern
Ireland
In David Weir's letter of 11 December 2008 he requested
that I provide your Committee with an update on current activities
and policy in relation to the 'disappeared'.
I would like to take this opportunity to reassure
you that the Government continues to place a high priority on
doing all that it can to recover the remains of the 'disappeared'.
The work of the Independent Commission for the Location of Victims'
Remains (ICLVR) is vital to this effort. I would like to commend
them for their recent success in recovering the remains of Danny
McIIhone. As the Committee are no doubt aware, his remains were
found in Wicklow in November 2008. After his identity was confirmed
by DNA testing, the remains were released to his family for burial
in December. This represents a great deal of hard work and commitment
from the Commission and those who support its work. Most importantly,
it has helped one bereaved family to move on after 27 years of
uncertainty about Danny's fate.
The Independent Commission for the Location of Victims'
Remains (ICLVR) was established in 1999 to take receipt of information
on the whereabouts of the "disappeared" and facilitate
the location of victims' remains. The Commission are currently
examining the cases of the remaining eight "disappeared"
whose remains have yet to be found. They are:
| Victim | Disappeared
| Attribution |
| Seamus Wright | Oct 1972 |
PIRA |
| Kevin McKee | Oct 1972 |
PIRA |
| Columba McVeigh | Oct 1975 |
PIRA |
| Cpt Robert Nairac | May 1977
| PIRA |
| Brendan Megraw | April 1978
| PIRA |
| Gerard Evans | March 1979 |
Unknown |
| Charlie Armstrong | August 1981
| Unknown |
| Seamus Ruddy | March 1985 |
INLA |
Fourteen people 'disappeared' during the troubles in Northern
Ireland. The remains of six individuals have been recovered so
far. They are Jean McConville, Eamon Molloy, John McClory, Brian
McKinney, Eugene Simons, and Danny McIlhone.
In 2007 a forensic expert was appointed to review
the information available that could locate further remains.
He devised a programme of work that would comprehensively examine
all the cases, using the latest technology to ensure that all
opportunities in respect of each of the remaining disappeared
would be exhausted. The two governments accepted this plan and
work is currently under way:
- a PO Box and confidential telephone
line have been set up to allow people with information on the
whereabouts of victims to share it with the ICLVR;
- all suspected gravesites will be surveyed with
non-invasive techniques and all relevant contemporary mapping,
forestry records and aerial photography of sites will be compared
with current imagery and mapping by imagery analysts;
- DNA samples are being collected from the closest
biological relatives of all those victims whose bodies are yet
to be recovered and any surviving medical and dental records will
also be secured;
- the Commission has established a family liaison
officer and media contact point within the Commission; and
- a number of public appeals have been made for
further information that might lead to the location of remains.
The Commission are now over half way through this
project and in the Autumn of 2008 they presented a report to the
two Governments highlighting their progress so far. I am sure
the Committee will understand that it is not possible for me to
go into specific details about each case.
As part of the Government's commitment to the disappeared
on the 4 May 2007 the Secretary of State announced that proposals
had been produced for new legislation which would allow the deaths,
not only of the disappeared but other people who have been missing
for as long as seven years, to be registered and death certificates
issued. This is now a matter for the Minister of the Department
of Finance and Personnel. On the 1st July 2008 the
Presumption of Death Bill was introduced into the Assembly by
the Finance Minister, Nigel Dodds OBE MP, MLA. This legislation
is important because it allows the families of the disappeared
to obtain some measure of closure.
I would like to highlight that the Commission has
worked successfully with families across the community, and those
who may have information about where remains may be buried. Coping
with the loss of loved ones is a terrible thing. The cases of
the Disappeared are particularly distressing - individuals kidnapped
and murdered by their own community. The ICLVR's work is important
not only to the bereaved families coping with the loss of their
loved ones, but in enabling the people of Northern Ireland to
resolve some of the most harrowing incidents from its history.
14 January 2009
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