The Daily Star Ireland
Experts have exhumed a grave in County Monaghan in their search for Joe Lynskey, a victim of the Northern Ireland Troubles. The Independent Commission for the Location of Victims’ Remains (ICLVR) announced that a formal process would begin to identify all remains found in the grave in the village of Annyalla.
Joe Lynskey, a former monk from Belfast who joined the IRA, was abducted, murdered, and secretly buried by the IRA in 1972. The commission received information about “suspicious historic activity” in the 1970s at a grave in Annyalla cemetery. This information matched the timeframe and location of Lynskey’s disappearance.
The ICLVR only learned that Lynskey was one of the Disappeared in 2010, and previous searches had failed to locate his remains. The process to confirm the identity of the remains found in the grave may take some time, according to the commission.
Lynskey was one of 17 people who were Disappeared by republican paramilitaries during the Troubles. The ICLVR was established by the UK and Irish governments to investigate their whereabouts, and they have formally located 13 of these victims.
In addition to Lynskey, the commission is also searching for three other Disappeared victims: Columba McVeigh, a teenager from County Tyrone; British Army Captain Robert Nairac; and Seamus Maguire, who was in his mid-20s and from near Lurgan, County Armagh.
