Paisley appeals on disappeared

DUP leader Ian Paisley has urged anyone with information that could lead to the location of the remaining bodies of the "disappeared…

DUP leader Ian Paisley has urged anyone with information that could lead to the location of the remaining bodies of the "disappeared" to come forward.

Dr Paisley yesterday issued his appeal in Tyrone after meeting Vera McVeigh, the elderly mother of 17-year-old Columba McVeigh who in 1975 was kidnapped, murdered and secretly buried by the IRA in a Monaghan bog.

Three unsuccessful digs were carried out at bogland in Bragan near Emyvale, Co Monaghan, for his remains. After the last search three years ago Mrs McVeigh, who is in her 80s, said she had given up hope of being able to give her son a Christian burial.

Her meeting with Dr Paisley was organised by DUP chairman Lord Morrow.

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Mrs McVeigh said the meeting gave her renewed hope that her son's body might eventually be found. "I am very hopeful," she said.

Gerry Moriarty

Gerry Moriarty

Gerry Moriarty is the former Northern editor of The Irish Times