As Gardai continued to search six locations for the bodies of eight IRA victims, the Auxiliary Bishop of Armagh, Dr Gerard Clifford, appealed for information about their graves.
Dr Clifford made his appeal at Templetown beach in Louth where he met the family of Jean McConville, whose body the IRA has said was buried underneath what is now a public car-park. He said: "Our hearts go out to this family and all the families. We pray that the searches will prove successful and that they will shortly have the opportunity for dignified ceremonies for their loved ones."
Meanwhile, gardai continued to expand the area being excavated. Thousands of tonnes of soil and sand have been sifted through in the search for remains. At Oristown bog outside Kells, Co Meath, gardai extended the area being searched on either side of the location given to them for the body of Brendan Magrew.
At nearby Coghalstown Wood, work began on searching an area approximately one acre in size for the remains of Kevin McKee and Seamus Wright. Family members of the deceased men visited the site yesterday and laid wreaths. Gardai say the searches will continue while there is any realistic hope of finding any remains. The Independent Commission for the Location of Victims' Remains met yesterday and issued a statement saying it was "very conscious that this is a time of great distress for the families concerned. For this reason we will ensure that they will be the first to be informed of any significant developments in the searches.
"It is primarily out of consideration for the families concerned that we have been somewhat reticent in our public comment over the past week.
"We are anxious not to raise any false hope or expectation of early success. At the same time we are also anxious that they should not become disheartened at this stage of what are, necessarily, slow and painstaking searches."
The efforts of the IRA to locate the graves of the "disappeared" were defended by Sinn Fein again yesterday. The party's Northern Euro-candidate, Mr Mitchel McLaughlin, said: "It mystifies me how anyone could see any advantage in this for republicans to withhold information or to give false information."
He conceded that more information was needed to help the searchers and urged anyone whose memory was jolted by "the awful scenes we have witnessed this week" to pass on information.
He added: "For people to argue that this is a cynical ploy or to take opportunistic advantage of it, to disregard the sensitivities of the families in these circumstances, has been the most distressing scene of this week."
The Progressive Unionist Assembly member, Mr David Ervine, said the episode had been "an attempt at a positive that has gone disastrously wrong".
Excavations were expected to begin in earnest later today at a site near Navan, Co Meath, where private contractors cleared an acre of land yesterday.
The IRA has indicated that it contains the graves of Kevin McKee and Seamus Wright killed in 1972.