Body verified as that of IRA murder victim

JEAN McCONVILLE, the Belfast mother of 10 who was abducted and murdered by the IRA in 1972, can finally be laid to rest after gardaí said yesterday that the remains found last August have been confirmed in DNA tests as hers.

The remains of Mrs McConville, one of the so-called ‘disappeared’, were found accidentally by walkers in an area known as Shelling Hill near Carlingford, Co Louth.

Searches had been carried out in the area for Mrs McConville’s body since 1999, a source of great trauma to her family and friends.

In a statement yesterday evening, Taoiseach Bertie Ahern said the confirmation brought to an end “a time of terrible uncertainty for the McConville family” and expressed his hope that it would “help the healing process for the family, who have endured so much pain through the loss of their mother.

“On my own behalf and on behalf of the Government, I would like to offer my deepest sympathy to the McConville family at this sad time,” he said.

Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny called on the IRA to renew its co-operation with the authorities in order that the bodies of the other ‘disappeared’ victims could be located and returned to their families for burial.

He said yesterday’s development was a huge relief to the McConville family, who had suffered the loss of their mother for over 30 years. “Their grief during this time has been greatly worsened by the failure of the IRA to return their mother’s body,” he said.

SDLP leader Mr Mark Durkan expressed his sympathy to the family of Mrs McConville. “Very few of us can imagine what they have been through and all of us will hope that this will help their grieving process,” he said.

“The abduction and disappearing of people was one of the worst human rights abuses in our history. Let us remember today the families of all those whose loved ones have still not been found.

“I am now calling on the IRA to re-double their efforts to bring the suffering of all those families to an end.”

Mrs McConville, 37, was abducted in Belfast city by a 12-strong gang three weeks before Christmas 1972.