Human remains found during search for IRA victims in woods

HUMAN remains have been found as part of the continuing search for IRA victims in Co Wicklow woodlands.

There has been no formal identification by gardaí and DNA testing is being carried out in a bid to shed more light on yesterday’s grim discovery.

There was some speculation that the body was that of Danny McIlhone, a Northern Ireland man who disappeared in 1981.

In 1999 the IRA formally announced that it had killed Mr McIlhone. His remains were understood to have been buried at the location in the Co Wicklow woodlands which the most recent search has focused on.

The search has been conducted in close liaison with the families of the so-called disappeared and the Independent Commission for the Location of Victims’ Remains.

The commission has been trying to locate the remains of those who were killed by the IRA and secretly buried and has been checking the veracity of information from sources including the IRA. In the past the commission was involved in an unsuccessful dig in the same Co Wicklow area for the body of the 21-year- old west Belfast man whom the IRA accused of stealing weapons.

“Contrary to some reports, he was not suspected of being an informer. He was being questioned on suspicion of having taken weapons from an IRA dump and using them in armed robberies.

“He was being questioned about these matters when he was killed in a struggle with the volunteer who was guarding him,” the IRA stated in 1999.

The IRA also alleged that Mr McIlhone was involved in armed robberies in Belfast and Dublin.