"The IRA tortured and mutilated our mother and finding out just broke my heart"
Even by the IRA's own standards, the murder of Jean McConville was a war crime, writes Fintan O'Toole Jean McConville was 37. She had grown up as a Protestant in East Belfast but converted to Catholicism after she married her husband, and lived in the Divis Flats on the Falls Road. By December 1972, she was a widow struggling to raise 10 children on her own. The Belfast Brigade of the IRA, then commanded by Gerry Adams, decided that she was an informer. She was "tried" in her absence by a self-appointed "court" and sentenced to death. According to Ed Moloney in his Secret History of the IRA, "it is inconceivable that such an order would have been issued without [ Adams's] knowledge." Jean McConville was kidnapped, taken to Shelling Hill beach on the Louth side of the Border and shot through the head. For the next 30 years, the IRA withheld both her body and all knowledge of her fate from her family. In August 2003, a man walking his dog found pieces of her skeleton sticking up through the sand. When, on Monday night's Questions and Answers, Michael McDowell asked Mitchel McLaughlin of Sinn Féin whether he classified the shooting of Jean McConville as a crime, he replied "I do not". Though he conceded that the act was "wrong", he immediately attempted to shift the debate to the status of Bobby Sands, the IRA icon who died on hunger strike almost nine years after the murder of Jean McConville. Metaphorically throwing the shroud of Bobby Sands over the bones of the murdered widow, he suggested that the hunger strike had proved the IRA's "sense of honour and integrity". In his mind, it seems, even "wrong" acts, like the murder of a defenceless woman, cannot be crimes because they are committed by men of honour. This mindset may be disgusting, but it is not surprising. For Sinn Féin and the IRA, the current phase of the conflict is about the definition of the conflict itself. For the self-esteem of the so-called republican movement, and for the political future of Sinn Féin, it is vital that its 30-year campaign of violence be remembered as a just war, a regrettable but necessary method of achieving a legitimate aim. The vile and sordid deeds that run through that campaign may, under pressure, be described as wrong. They may be accepted as "mistakes". The IRA may acknowledge, in the curiously passive language it favours, that these things "should not have happened". But they must never, ever, be called crimes. It is no accident that Mitchel McLaughlin's immediate instinct when asked about Jean McConville is to start talking about the 1981 hunger strikes. For those protests, in which 10 men starved themselves to death rather than submit to an ordinary prison regime and therefore accept that they were criminals serving their time, were the ultimate statement of how viscerally important the issue is for the Provos. A less epic version of this struggle for the moral high ground was played out last July at Philadelphia International Airport, when a former IRA member, Joe Black, was briefly detained by the authorities. He had served time for carrying out a kneecapping but answered "no" to a question on the visa form about whether he had ever been convicted of a crime of "moral turpitude". To accept that the deliberate mutilation of a non-combatant involved moral turpitude would be to acknowledge that normal standards of morality apply to IRA operatives. Such a conclusion is, for the IRA and its apologists, unfathomable. The fact is that even by the IRA's own standards, the murder of Jean McConville and hundreds of other acts of violence it has perpetrated are crimes. The IRA justifies itself by claiming that it was engaged in a war, and that wars inevitably involve the infliction of violence on others. Along with Mitchel McLaughlin, it conveniently forgets that there is also such a thing as a war crime. And by all accepted definitions of war crimes, the murder of Jean McConville was an illegal act. The International Criminal Court, of which Ireland is a member, clearly states that war crimes do apply to "an armed conflict not of an international character", a category which obviously applies to the Northern Ireland troubles. Under this heading, it defines as crimes a number of acts against non-combatants that the IRA perpetrated against Jean McConville, including "violence to life and person, in particular murder of all kinds, mutilation, cruel treatment and torture", and "the passing of sentences and the carrying out of executions without previous judgment pronounced by a regularly constituted court, affording all judicial guarantees which are generally recognised as indispensable." The IRA's refusal to disclose Jean McConville's fate or produce her body also constituted a war crime, that of "enforced disappearance of persons", defined as "the arrest, detention or abduction of persons by, or with the authorisation, support or acquiescence of, a State or a political organisation, followed by a refusal to acknowledge that deprivation of freedom or to give information on the fate or whereabouts of those persons." With a hypocrisy that would be breathtaking had it not become so familiar, Sinn Féin regularly supports calls for these international laws to be enforced - so long as the crimes in question happened elsewhere. At the time when there were attempts to prosecute the Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet in the UK and Spain, for example, An Phoblacht quoted with approval Virginia Díaz, a member of the Spanish prosecution team against Pinochet: "One of the consequences of the Pinochet case has been the creation of an International Criminal Court to take on cases of crimes against humanity. 'But what is more important' , highlights Virginia, 'is the final confirmation that crimes against humanity are imprescriptible and that human rights are inviolable. There is no possible immunity to cover those responsible for those crimes'." Except, of course, the immunity of those inoculated against guilt by their own tender sense of honour. January 2005 Click here to go back to the top Vandals have smashed a memorial to Jean McConville at a beach in Co Louth. The memorial and grotto to the murdered Belfast woman, on Templetown beach at Carlingford Lough, was broken into several pieces. It is not known when the attack took place but it is believed to have happened sometime over the weekend. Her family erected the marble plaque in 2001 as the search continued for her remains. Mrs McConville was last seen at her Belfast home in 1972. The family wrote on the plaque "In loving memory of our mother Jean McConville taken from us by the IRA in December 1972 and believed to be buried on this beach." Irish Independent 17th May Click here to go back to the top Jean McConville's remains were found on a County Louth beach The family of murdered Belfast woman Jean McConville have said they want the IRA to admit she was killed for no reason. They were speaking after an inquest into the death of the 37-year-old mother-of-ten recorded a verdict of unlawful killing. Mrs McConville was abducted and murdered by the IRA after she went to the aid of a fatally wounded British soldier outside her front door in 1972. She is one of the nine so-called Disappeared people who were murdered by the IRA and secretly buried during the 1970s. Her remains were found at Shelling Hill beach in County Louth in the Irish Republic in August 2003. Speaking after an inquest into her death on Monday, her son Michael said he is to seek a meeting with Sinn Fein President Gerry Adams to discuss the matter. The County Louth Coroner, Ronan Maguire, described Mrs McConville's killing as "cold, calculating and totally brutal". He said those responsible lacked "any basis of humanity whatsoever". The inquest heard the mother of 10 died instantly from a gunshot wound to the back of the head. Earlier, another of Mrs McConville's sons said his mother was taken from her home by a gang of up to 20 people. McConville family members are attending the inquest Click here to go back to the top Go-ahead to find IRA killers of Jean McConville Forensic evidence found during the examination of the body of IRA ''Disappeared'' victim Jean McConville could still be used to convict her murderers, it emerged today. Louth County Coroner Ronan Maguire ruled the recovery of Mrs McConville`s body was not covered by an agreement between the authorities and republicans, before adjourning her inquest for six weeks. The IRA agreed to help locate the bodies of the nine Disappeared in 1999 on the understanding that the only forensic tests carried out on any bodies found would be for identification purposes. Mrs McConville`s body was not recovered following two official searches and was only found accidentally by a member of the public last August. Mr Maguire said a full range of forensic tests had been carried out on her remains and any results could be used in criminal proceedings. "I deemed that the case of Jean McConville did not come under the Criminal Justice Location of Victims` Remains Act 1999," he said. "If Mrs McConville`s body had been recovered during the two searches launched as a result of information received through the process, the only examination allowed would be in relation to identification. "However, because her remains were found following an accidental search, a full forensic examination can be carried out and any evidence could be used in court. "That, in essence, means that the criminal case remains open." The inquest was adjourned for six weeks today at the request of Mrs McConville`s family. A solicitor told a brief hearing at Dundalk Courthouse that the family wanted more time to allow independent experts to examine police files and to get more information from gardai. Mr Maguire granted the adjournment until April 5, when he promised "as full and proper an inquiry as possible" would take place. "I anticipate it will be able to proceed to its conclusion on that date,`` he added. Mrs McConville`s son Michael said the family had waited for 31 years for their mother`s remains, so another six weeks would not harm them. "We want to get to the truth," he said. "It is like a piece of the jigsaw, it all comes together. It helps for us to get on with our lives, to know as much information as possible." Mrs McConville`s body was discovered in a shallow grave on Shelling Hill beach in Co Louth last August, 31 years after she was abducted by an IRA gang. The mother-of-10 was taken from her home in Divis Flats, west Belfast, after she went to the aid of a critically wounded British soldier. The IRA admitted responsibility for her murder, claiming she had been an informer - an allegation her family vigorously denied. A post-mortem examination confirmed Mrs McConville, who was 37-years-old at the time of her death, died from a gunshot wound to the head. She was one of the nine Disappeared victims who were murdered by the IRA and secretly buried during the 1970s. The IRA offered to help locate the bodies in 1999 but Mrs McConville`s remains were not found, despite two extensive excavations, the first lasting 50 days, at Templetown Beach in Carlingford, Co Louth. Garda officers did recover the body of Eamon Molloy in a coffin in a graveyard in Co Louth as well as the remains of John McClory and Brian McKinney, whose remains were found after weeks of digging in a bog in Co Monaghan. The other bodies were not located. The IRA apologised for the grief caused to the families of the Disappeared last October, saying it was sorry their suffering had continued for so long. Mrs McConville`s family said the apology meant nothing to them. Bishop Patrick Walsh told mourners at Mrs McConville`s funeral in November that her murder had "touched the depths of depravity". Click here to go back to the top The final chapter in the tragic life and death of IRA murder victim, Jean McConville, is set to be written tomorrow. For, over 31 years after the brutal killing of the west Belfast mum-of-10, an inquest into her death at the hands of republicans will begin, in Dundalk. The surviving children of the 37-year-old woman are expected to travel to the Co Louth town, to attend the hearing. And the hope is that the inquest will help unlock the key to many of the mysteries surrounding her disappearance and death, in December 1972. Mrs McConville was abducted from her family home, in the Divis Flats complex, by a group of masked men and unmasked women, after going to the aid of a fatally wounded British soldier, outside her front door. For three decades, the IRA denied any involvement in the horrific incident - until 1999, when it finally admitted that they had killed and buried her at an undisclosed site in the South. Mrs McConville's body was discovered by a local man, who was out walking his dog at Shelling Hill beach, in Co Louth, last August. Over 30 years of agony for the family was ended, when Irish police confirmed, last October, that the remains found were that of Mrs McConville. Garda forensic investigations established that Mrs McConville had died from a single bullet wound to the head. Hundreds of people paid a poignant farewell to Jean McConville at a Requiem Mass in St Paul's Church, west Belfast, last November. Witnesses at the inquest starting tomorrow are expected to include a pathologist, a Garda forensic bureau expert, and the man who discovered Mrs McConville's body. The inquest could help to answer a series of questions surrounding her fate - including the possibility that her body had been moved from an earlier grave, to Shelling Hill beach. Speaking recently, Louth county coroner, Ronan Maguire, said that "all the members of the families will give evidence about their memories of their mother's disappearance". Sunday Life 22nd February 2004 Click here to go back to the top Inquest could name McConville's IRA Killers The inquest into the death of Jean McConville could reveal the identities of the IRA gang who abducted the mother of 10 in 1972. The McConville family have been told they can identify the abductors including several unmasked women, who were recognised. Mrs McConville's body was discovered on a County Louth beach last year (2003), 31 years after she disappeared. The inquest which will be held next month in Dundalk, will reveal whether or not she was tortured before her death. News Letter 19th January Click here to go back to the top The Long Goodbye - Silent majority pay respects You are not alone in your grief - that was the powerfully poignant message of mourners at the funeral of Jean McConville in west Belfast yesterday. For the burden of 31 years of personal pain and heartache suffered by the McConville family, was shared by the hundreds of mourners who packed into St Paul's Church. There had been whispers that some would stay away from the Requiem Mass in the heartland of republican Belfast - wary of unsympathetic eyes and ears noting their presence. And shortly before the service, those fears seemed justified as the clusters of media people outnumbered mourners and bystanders. But, at seven minutes past noon, as the church bell rang out and Jean McConville's six sons carried her coffin inside, there was an immense display of people power inside. For, by then, over 700 mourners had gathered to show their respects to the McConvilles - making a silent majority show of solidarity. There was no sign of Sinn Fein MP for the area, Gerry Adams - who jetted off to the USA - or apparently any members of the republican party. But other political figures did come out in force to pay their respects. An SDLP delegation was led by leader, Mark Durkan and deputy leader, Brid Rodgers. Other politicians present included Alliance Party leader, David Ford; Monica McWilliams of the Women's Coalition and political advisor to Ulster Unionist leader, David Trimble - Dr Steven King. One woman - a member of a cross-community peace and reconciliation group - confided: "We all wanted to come here today. But I'm sure that a lot of people just didn't know what to do, in the circumstances." Another mourner said: "I lived near where the McConville's lived in Divis, and I had to be here. What happened was a terrible tragedy. But hopefully today will now help to give that family some dignity back." And one family wreath seemed to underline the prospect of the McConvilles finally reaching the final chapter and farewell in the tragic story of Jean. It read: "In loving memory of Granny - Peace At Last." 2nd November 2003 Sunday Life Click here to go back to the top A single white dove spreads its wings in memory of Jean McConville. The bird of peace was released by a great grandchild of the mum-of-10 - 31 years after her brutal abduction and murder by the IRA. After a funeral service was held for the Provo murder victim in west Belfast, a small crowd of mourners gathered at a quiet Lisburn cemetery, to say their last goodbyes to one of the 'Disappeared'. Monsignor Thomas Toner launched a stinging attack on her "Nazi" style killers, during the funeral service, but, at her graveside, the priest spoke about the legacy Jean McConville would leave behind. Said Monsignor Toner: "This is a very sad day for the McConville family. "This white dove, a bird of love and peace, has been released in memory of Jean McConville. "This is a new beginning for the family, and hopefully now they can draw some closure from what has been a terrible 31 years." 2nd November 2003 Click here to go back to the top This is the heartrending moment devastated Helen McKendry has been forced to wait an agonising 30 years for. Ever since an IRA gang abducted and brutally murdered her mother, the crusading mum has been praying for the day, when she could finally visit her tragic mother's grave. Yesterday, almost 31 years to the day when she saw her mother for the last time, Helen McKendry's wish finally came true. Jean McConville was abducted by an IRA gang - consisting of four women and eight men - and later murdered, before being buried in a shallow grave, at Shelling Hill beach, Co Louth. Her only crime was to whisper a prayer in the ear of a young soldier, as he lay in a pool of blood, after being shot by an IRA sniper. The mum-of-10's remains were found in September, but her funeral was finally held in west Belfast yesterday morning, before she was buried at a Lisburn cemetery. Mrs McKendry told Sunday Life how it was a "relief", that after a 30-year search for her mother, and for answers from the IRA leadership, her mother was now "home". Said Mrs McKendry: "I only got to spend five minutes with my mother in the morgue in Dublin, but now I can come here, and spend as long as I want. "I broke down when I was in Dublin, and I touched my mother's coffin, but it is such a relief that she is finally home, and has received the Christian burial she deserved. "I have thought about this day for 30 years, and I honestly didn't know how I was going to react. "I hope this brings closure for me and my children, because they have also had to live with this nightmare for many years. "I am proud to have been Jean McConville's daughter, and I will never forget who I am. What happened to my mother will make me and my family better people. "My mother is now at peace, and has finally received the dignity and respect she deserved. "She is a martyr, who simply died for helping someone. "Maybe now that my mother has been returned home, I can start to be a better mother to my own kids, who have suffered, because of what the IRA did all those years ago." Sunday Life October 2003 Click here to go back to the top The IRA killers of Jean McConville were yesterday condemned for committing the "most despicable act" in the history of the Troubles. Monsignor Thomas Toner accused those responsible for the abduction and murder of the mother-of-10, of plumbing the "depths of depravity and shame". Speaking at the Requiem Mass for the west Belfast woman, whose body was found buried at a Co Louth beach last August, Fr Toner also compared the IRA's actions to those of the Nazis in World War II. Fr Toner, who visited a Rome war burial site for Italians who had been killed and dumped by the Nazis in caves, said people such as Jean McConville deserved a final peaceful resting place. He said: "Those graves spoke. They are an eloquent statement of what Jean McConville and all our Disappeared are justly entitled to, after their shameful murders. "In the history of our Troubles, there can be no more despicable act than the abduction, murder and casual disposal of the body of Jean McConville, and subsequent plight of her 10 children. "It is our most shameful example of the moral corruption and degradation that violence generates in the human spirit." Catholic Bishop of Down and Connor, Dr Patrick Walsh, said that people's "hearts and prayers" also went out to other families of the Disappeared, whose loved ones "still lie buried in unmarked graves". And he appealed: "Today, as I have done on many previous occasions, I make a fervent and heartfelt plea to anyone who can help with information: In God's name, in the name of humanity, give that information, and give peace of mind to other distraught families." Tears filled the eyes of some mourners when Presbyterian minister, Ruth Patterson, disclosed some poignant memories from the McConville family about their tragic mum. Sunday Life 2nd November 2003 Click here to go back to the top A fresh dig started yesterday for another of the 'Disappeared'. Crossmaglen man Charlie Armstrong went missing in 1981 on his way to mass. It is believed the father of five was murdered by the IRA and secretly buried close to the border in County Monaghan. Gardai (police) searched a site at Iniskeen in May last year without success. Mr Armstrong's family say the discovery of Jean McConville's body has given them new hope. They say a new search area has been identified and have appealed to those who give them information before to get in touch. News Letter 22nd October 2003 IRA tortured and mutilated our mother and finding out just broke my heart PROVO "Disappeared" victim Jean McConville's daughter suffered a heart attack after being told her mother had been MUTILATED. Helen McKendry was shattered after hearing the fingers on one of her mum's hands had been chopped off by torturers Click here to go back to the top Only now is the full and terrible suffering of 'disappeared' mother of 10 Jean McConville revealed. Click here to go back to the top IRA/Sinn Fein abduct and murder man going across the border THE father of an Armagh man missing since May has rejected IRA assertions they had nothing to do with his disappearance. Mark O'Connor said he was ''100 per cent convinced'' the IRA abducted his son and killed him. Accusing republicans of lying about the disappearance of his 24-year-old son, Gareth, he said: ''I would like them to come clean and, if my son is dead, give me back his body.'' The missing man vanished while driving from his home in Armagh City to Dundalk to report to police as part of his bail conditions while awaiting trial on a charge of belonging to an illegal dissident republican group. Mr O'Connor snr said the IRA had threatened his son and then he disappeared. He scoffed at the latest statement from the IRA on Sunday night saying they had nothing to do with the disappearance. "I don't believe what the IRA is saying. I have no reason to believe it,'' he said. "The IRA are known to have lied for 30 years about the disappeared and they are lying again. "They threatened my son on the Thursday - the police went to his house with a threat from the Provisional IRA - and my son went missing on the Sunday.'' He accused Gerry Adams of using the case of his son and others who had disappeared over the past 30 year as ''pawns''. "He's going to release so many bodies until he gets his election, everybody knows that.'' Mr O'Connor was supported in his claim about IRA responsibility by a Catholic churchman. Monsignor Denis Faul said he had ''no doubts'' the IRA was responsible for the disappearance. He said it was ''incredible'' to suggest that 20 men could snatch the 24-year-old in the border region controlled by republicans without the IRA being involved. May 2003 Click here Click here to go back to the top Disappeared reminds us of Real Sinn Fein/IRA Agenda
Click here to go back to the top Garda officers accompany a coffin being removed from the beach Human remains found in County Louth, near a site where the IRA claimed to have buried a mother-of-ten, have been identified as belonging to a woman. Jean McConville was abducted from her west Belfast home in 1972, after she went to the aid of a fatally wounded British soldier outside her front door. The 37-year-old was one of the so-called Disappeared who were murdered by the IRA and secretly buried during the 1970s. On Wednesday, the gardai said bones had been found by a man out walking with his children at Shilling Hill beach, near Carlingford. They have now confirmed that the remains belonged to a woman. A post mortem examination will take place on Thursday and DNA tests are expected to take several days to complete. A garda spokesman said: "We believe that the body may be that of a female based on some items of clothing found there. "We can confirm the remains were found in a shallow grave. "The body is now going to Dundalk for a post mortem examination." Jean McConville was a mother of 10. The area where the discovery has been made is about a quarter of a mile from Templetown Beach, where previous searches for Mrs McConville's body have taken place. Relatives of Mrs McConville went to the scene. One of her sons, Michael, who was just 11 when his mother went missing, said: "We've been told nothing officially yet, but there are an awful lot of coincidences here". "We hope it may be the end this time." Extensive excavations Carlingford parish priest Father McParland was leading prayers at the scene with family members. Mrs McConville's daughter Helen McKendry said she was praying that this was the news she had waited for years to hear, but was waiting for official confirmation about what exactly had been found. "All these years waiting and not knowing anything, but we have always had the feeling the body was there," she said. "I'm just hoping and praying it is, so we can have an end to all this. But our hopes have been raised so many times." In 1999, the IRA offered to help locate the bodies of the nine so-called Disappeared but Mrs McConville's remains were not found, despite extensive excavations. Two searches of Templetown beach, one lasting 50 days, were carried out during the summer of 1999 and May last year. In 1999, gardai recovered the bodies of Eamon Molloy, left in a coffin in a graveyard in County Louth as well as the remains of John McClory and Brian McKinney, whose remains were found after weeks of digging in a bog in County Monaghan. However, the IRA was unable to give precise enough information to locate the other bodies. September 2003 Click here to go back to the top Police accompany a coffin being removed from the beach The IRA has said it has given all the information it has over the "Disappeared" - those kidnapped and murdered during the Troubles. The statement followed an appeal by the son of a woman murdered more than 30 years ago, asking the IRA to come forward with more details about where other victims are buried. Michael McConville was speaking as tests continue to establish if a body found in a shallow grave in the Irish Republic earlier this week is that of his mother Jean McConville. The remains were discovered at Shelling Hill beach, near Carlingford, in County Louth by a man and his children on Tuesday. Mrs McConville, 37, was abducted by the IRA from her home in 1972, after she went to the aid of a fatally wounded British soldier outside her front door. The mother of ten was murdered by the IRA and secretly buried during the 1970s. DNA tests are being carried out to firmly establish the identity of the body, but the McConville family say they are convinced that it is their mother. Jean McConville was a mother of 10 Click here to go back to the top IRA accused over search claims The IRA was accused tonight of point scoring over the discovery of mother-of-ten Jean McConville's body. As relatives of the Belfast woman kidnapped and shot dead by the Provisionals awaited official confirmation her remains had been found on a beach in Co Louth, the republican movement claimed it told the Dublin authorities weeks back to extend the search. But Mrs McConville's son-in-law, Seamus McKendry, insisted any detail passed on by the IRA was worthless. He said: "The Provos are trying to jump on the bandwagon. "There's always going to be somebody wanting to score brownie points and it seems that's what they are engaged in." Republicans claimed authorities were asked to widen two searches in a bid to locate more bodies of the so-called disappeared. A Sinn Féin source said: "It is our understanding that the IRA carried out an exhaustive review of all of the information available to it. "There was an assessment that at two particular locations, the area of the search should be widened. "One of those was the McConville site. That information was passed on a number of weeks ago." Relatives of Mrs McConville believe remains discovered by a man walking with his children at Shilling Hill beach near Dundalk on Wednesday - about a quarter of a mile from where the Provisionals initially claimed to have buried her - are those of the widow who disappeared from her home in West Belfast in 1972. A post-mortem examination disclosed that the victim had been shot in the back of the head. It could be several weeks before the identity is known, but if it is confirmed to be Mrs McConville, it will bring to four the number of bodies recovered. The bodies of five others are still missing. They are Columba McVeigh, Danny McIlhone, Kevin McKee, Seamus Wright and Brendan McGraw. They were all abducted and murdered by the IRA after being accused of informing to the British security forces - allegations that have never been backed by hard evidence. But as the McConville family's anxious wait continued, Mr McKendry insisted the information passed on by the Provos made no difference. "It would only have increased the original dig at Templeton Beach, which is not where Jean was buried." The Victims Commission set up by the British and Irish governments to help families of the disappeared insisted no details had come through it. A spokesman said: "Any information passed on to the authorities, if there was any information passed on by the IRA or anyone else, was not passed on through the Commission." The Irish News 28th August 2003 Click here to go back to the top The disappeared: So many yet to be found THE discovery of remains, believed to be those of Jean McConville, may end the 31-year nightmare suffered by her family. If confirmed, hers will be the fourth body handed over by the IRA, since 1999. But at least another nine families are left not knowing the fate of their loved-ones. The first body to be recovered was that of Eamon Molloy, who disappeared from north Belfast, in 1975. His remains were found in a coffin, left above ground, in Faughart Cemetery, in Co Louth, in May 1999. Five weeks later, and after a two-month search of a bog at Colgagh, Co Monaghan, the bodies of pals John McClory, 18, and Brian McKinney, 22, were unearthed. Both young men, who the IRA claimed had used one of their weapons to carry out a robbery, had been shot in the head. But at least nine more people the IRA is believed to have murdered - including five they have so far admitted killing - have yet to be found. Click here to go back to the top
Gareth O'Connor is dead, secretly murdered by the IRA earlier this year, his body buried somewhere along the Irish border. But hush, don't mention the war, and say not a word of Gareth O'Connor. The delinquencies of the peace process must not be adverted to in public, as Sinn Fein-IRA is allowed to hold on to its armouries of guns and double standards. Of course, Gareth O'Connor (RIP) should be deeply embarrassing to the republican leadership, for his fate testifies to the a la carte manner in which Sinn Fein-IRA follows the rules of the peace process. But instead, they've got away it with it, as usual: Colombia, the Castlereagh break-in, the Stormont intelligence operation against the British, Irish and US governments, the many arms importations, the punishment beatings, the occasional murder, have occurred since the Good Friday Agreement, and all without any political consequence for Sinn Fein. Is it surprising that the Shinners felt free to kill and bury O'Connor, a dissident republican, not far from where Irish police are now looking for the body of Colomba McVeigh, abducted and murdered by the IRA 28 years ago? The Shinners pay no price for their numerous breaches of the Good Friday Agreement, because it is apparently accepted that burying bodies is what they do. Indeed, in their own quiet, understated way, that's what they've always done. In the Troubles of 1919-22, unknown numbers of men vanished off the face of the earth, courtesy of the IRA, many being buried secretly. Two captured police officers were dealt with in another way: they were thrown alive into a gas furnace in Tralee in Kerry. In the summer of 1922, the IRA openly abducted three Cork Protestants, Captain Herbert Woods MC, MM; his father-in-law, Thomas Hornibrooke; and his brother-in-law Samuel Hornibrooke, and tortured and murdered them before secretly burying them. Not a single Irish newspaper reported on the fate of these men until I did in a column in The Irish Times in 1989. Indeed, it could be said that I have a certain proprietorial interest in the missing of the Troubles. I suspect that it was an article of mine in The Spectator in the early 1990s that first drew the British public's attention to the missing of the more recent Troubles. No doubt, the Shinners would prefer the press not to refer to these little house-cleaning operations; but as it turns out, no one seems to object very much, apart from the families, of course, and a few journalists, and they can be safely ignored. So the Shinners got away with the secret murder of Jean McConville in 1972, and the man who ordered her abduction and burial these days regularly takes tea in Downing Street. Moreover, the various governments in Dublin, London and Washington can usually be relied on to give an indulgent, boys-will-be-boys wink every time the Shinners break the rules. Sometimes Sinn Fein leaders are asked in the course of television interviews about the Disappeared (a convenient short-hand for the abducted, tortured, murdered and buried). Their faces immediately become grave, and they urge that this is a matter of great sensitivity, that there's no point in endlessly raking over the coals, and now is the time for "closure" (Shinnese for the total amnesia which consumed the Woods and the Hornibrookes). Mention, however, Bloody Sunday, or military collusion with loyalist paramilitaries, and suddenly it's not closure that the Shinners want but disclosure, and wide-ranging, endless inquiries. But then move on to "Stakeknife", the British agent at the heart of the IRA, and the talk is again of sensitivity, of drawing a line, of not pointlessly going back into history. But why shouldn't the Shinners talk like this? No one in government ever reproves them for their numerous departures from intellectual or moral consistency: indeed Shinner leaders are probably able to swan into Downing Street with their own personal swipe-cards, courtesy of MI5. And because no one in the three governments participating in this morally-depraved peace process ever publicly announces that Shinners must stay within the law - oh and by the way, no more killing and burying people - they never really understand the rules which the rest of us live by. So the Sinn Fein candidate for the next European elections, Mary Lou McDonald, recently gave the keynote speech at a memorial in Dublin to the IRA-man Sean Russell. This quisling died - in agony, I trust - on a U-boat in 1940 on his way to Ireland to help set up a Nazi puppet state. Yet the Shinners have so little understanding of European values that they think their candidate for the European Parliament can openly revere a pro-Nazi, simply because he was a Shinner. The political cultures of both islands have been so corrupted by concessions to the Shinners that half the IRA Army Council is now elected to parliament in either Dublin or London. Heaven knows, maybe the Lords beckon next for some of their leaders. For their coat of arms, might I suggest a pair of crossed spades? Telegraph 14th September 2003 Click here to go back to the top IRA shot Mrs McConville in back of head Jean McConville's IRA killers shot her in the back of the head before taking her body to a shoreline in Co Louth, it emerged tonight. It is believed they made her kneel before a gunman pulled a trigger. Although it could be several weeks before the identity is confirmed,gardaí believe the remains are of mother-of-10 Mrs McConville, who was kidnapped by the IRA in west Belfast in 1972. Her family today identified clothing found alongside a skeleton in a shallow grave in Co Louth. A post-mortem examination revealed a single bullet wound to the skull of the woman. After seeing the skeletal remains at a mortuary, Mrs McConville's 41-year-old son Michael said: “From what I have seen today I do think it's my mother. “There is a sense of relief. No-one understands how much pressure we have been under over the last 30 years.” Click here to go back to the top Although it will be some weeks before the skeletal remains found on a beach near Carlingford in Co Louth can be conclusively identified by DNA, it seems highly probable following the post-mortem that they are those of the late Jean McConville, who was murdered by the IRA in 1972. Click here to go back to the top Dig for Sinn Fein/IRA provo victim is likely to last week THE opening stages of a new bid to find the body of another of Northern Ireland's '' disappeared'' - people who vanished after being abducted and murdered by the IRA up to 30 years ago - proved unproductive in a bogland area of Co Monaghan yesterday. Mechanical diggers and a team of police moved in yesterday morning, concentrating on two areas close to the village of Emyvale in a bid to discover the remains of Columba McVeigh, who was aged 17 at the time he was taken away and killed by the terrorist group in 1975. The latest operation, which is likely to take the rest of the week to complete, will mark the third attempt to locate the body of the teenager. Previous efforts lasting a number of weeks in the same area in 1999 and a year later ended in failure. Last week the Dublin-based Commission for the Location of Victims Remains was handed fresh information about the spot where Columba may have been buried from the IRA by an intermediary. As a result, police examined the bog and a decision was made to resume digging. Commission joint chairman John Wilson, a former deputy Irish premier, stressed caution about being overly optimistic in relation to the latest dig. Speaking at the scene, he said new information about the location of the youth's body had been received pinponting the two possible spots. He added ''The information indicated there is a possibility that we will find the body there. "I hope it is accurate, and I hope it is specific.'' Mr Wilson said he hoped the reports were accurate for the sake of Colomba McVeigh's elderly mother Vera, declaring: ''Closure should be reached on this. "I have not the slightest idea how long this will go on. This has always been difficult for the families and their feelings have to be remembered.'' Mr McVeigh, from Donaghmore in Co Tyrone, was abducted and killed by the IRA, who claimed he was spying for the British Army. He was living in the Dolphin's Barn suburb of Dublin when he was abducted by the IRA. Last week Mr McVeigh's mother, Vera, said she wanted to bury her son's remains before she herself died. The new search got under way 10 days after what are thought to be the remains of another of the disappeared, Belfast woman Jean McConville were found, reportedly by accident, on Shelling Hill beach in Co Louth. Northern Ireland news online September 2003 |
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