Families of Disappeared IRA victims said they had “broken the silence of the past” as they laid a wreath at Stormont in memory of those still buried in secret, unmarked graves.
Relatives hugged and stood shoulder-to-shoulder as they took part in the 20th annual All Souls Day silent walk on Monday.
A black wreath with five white lilies representing those still missing was placed on the steps of Stormont.
Dympna Kerr cried as she spoke about her teenage brother, Columba McVeigh, who was abducted and murdered on Halloween night in 1975. His body has never been found.
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“There’s not a day passes that I don’t think of him and don’t pray for him,” she said.
McVeigh (19), from Donaghmore, Co Tyrone, is one of 17 people known as the Disappeared. They were murdered and secretly buried by the IRA during the Troubles. To date, the remains of 13 of the victims have been recovered.
Joe Lynskey, Robert Nairac, Seamus Maguire and Lisa Dorrian were also remembered as a fresh appeal for information was made at the walk. Their remains have yet to be found.
“Those of us who are still waiting and who had their loved ones returned, we stand here with warmth, strength and solidarity,” added Kerr.
“We’ve broken the silence of fear, of the past ... all that is gone. We now speak out, we won’t be silenced and we are not going to rest until the terrible wrong of denying our loved ones a Christian burial is put right and all the Disappeared are returned home.”
Maria Lynskey (78), the niece of Joe Lynskey, used her walking stick to reach the steps of Stormont as she and Kerr carried the wreath.
Lynskey’s uncle was a former Cistercian monk and IRA intelligence officer from west Belfast who was the abducted, killed and buried by the IRA in 1972 after he was reportedly involved in a relationship with the wife of another IRA man.
Joe Lynskey was the first of disappeared.
Last year, the hopes of the Lynskey family were raised for the second time in a decade after a fresh search got under way in a Co Monaghan cemetery. However, the human remains exhumed were not his.
“I’ve been coming to the walk for 16 years. It’s symbolic as it all souls day,” said Maria Lynskey. “I find it very difficult but you’ve always good support.
“It’s to highlight what we’re going through. If this didn’t exist, we would be on our own.
“It’s coming 55 years this year for Joe, it’s so hard after what happened last year.”
The Independent Commission for the Location of Victims’ Remains (ICLVR), the body set up by the British and Irish governments during the peace process to find the Disappeared, was also represented at the event by its lead investigator, Eamonn Henry.
While Lisa Dorrian’s disappearance came in 2005, outside the remit of the commission (which can only take cases from before April 10th, 1998) she is included as one of the Disappeared by the Wave Trauma Centre, which supports those affected.
Wave’s chief executive Sandra Peake walked with the families to the steps. The charity has organised the event since its inception.
“Today, 20 years on from that first walk to the steps of Parliament Buildings, there are still five white lilies in the wreath,” said Peake.
“There is a process in place through the ICLVR that has worked and every successful search over the years has brought hope that the torment of the families can finally be brought to an end.
“But each passing year takes its toll as everyone grows older.
“It is especially difficult for those still waiting but the resolve of all of the families of the Disappeared to see the remains of those yet to be found to be returned to their loved ones for Christian burial is undiminished.”
Anyone with information on any of the four outstanding ICLVR Disappeared cases should contact the ICLVR. All information is treated in the strictest confidence. The ICLVR can be contacted by telephone: 00 353 1 602 8655, by email to secretary@iclvr.ie, and by post to: ICLVR PO Box 10827. – PA
