IRA's appeal on location of graves welcomed

A statement issued by the IRA calling for public assistance in locating the bodies of people it murdered and secretly buried over 20 years ago has been welcomed by the group Families of the Disappeared.

The IRA, in a statement to yesterday's Irish News, appealed to people with information about the location of the missing people's graves to contact the organisation or the victims' families.

The organisation made its appeal less that a week after it was disclosed that it had admitted it murdered Mrs Jean McConville, a mother of 10 children who went missing from her home in 1972.

The IRA formally notified Mrs Helen McKendry, daughter of Mrs McConville, in October that her mother was dead.

At the time Mrs McKendry, who with her husband, Seamus, was involved in forming the organisation Families of the Disappeared, urged the IRA to declare an "amnesty" to anyone who would volunteer information about the location of the bodies of the "disappeared".

The IRA in its statement said it was continuing its investigation into "the whereabouts of the bodies of a small number of people killed and buried by the IRA over 20 years ago".

"We urge anyone with information which may be of assistance in identifying the location of the grave of any of these people to pass this information to ourselves or to the family of the person concerned.

"Any information passed to the IRA concerning these matters will be treated in strictest confidence and without prejudice to the source," the statement said.

Mr McKendry, whose group is campaigning for the return of the bodies of 14 people who went missing over the period of the conflict, welcomed the IRA statement.

He hoped the reference to people being able to give information "without prejudice" amounted to a guarantee that anyone who volunteered information would not be targeted by the IRA.

He believed the IRA was genuine in seeking to resolve the issue but he wanted a greater effort from its leadership. "They don't do themselves any favours dragging it out over all these years," Mr McKendry said.