THE FAMILY of Columba McVeigh, one of the so-called “disappeared”, have said they are disappointed at the news that a body exhumed in Monaghan in June is not that of the murdered teenager.
DNA results which were sent to England for analysis showed that the remains, exhumed from a family plot in Scotstown, Co Monagahan, were not those of any of the disappeared, the term given to those murdered and secretly buried by republican paramilitaries during the Troubles in Northern Ireland.
Mr McVeigh who was from Donaghmore in Co Tyrone was 17 when he was abducted and murdered by the IRA in October 1975.
Despite extensive searches in Co Monaghan, his remains have not been found.
Mr McVeigh’s brother, Oliver, told BBC Ulster radio yesterday that although the family were aware that the information was vague, they had remained hopeful and the subsequent disappointment had been difficult to deal with.
“I am not surprised but I’m still disappointed,” he said. “All we want is the information so we can go to the commission and the body can be recovered . . . It’s been going on a long time and we want it brought to a close.”
Mr McVeigh said he was not convinced that all those who might have information relating to his brother’s disappearance had come forward. “Any information is relevant. It doesn’t matter how slight it is. And there’s no worries about them coming forward to the commission or anybody. The family is not interested, the commission is not interested because it has been passed in government that there will be no prosecution, no nothing.
“But the IRA knows all this and it’s just getting it through to the people, the foot soldiers involved . . . to come forward and let us know.”
Mr McVeigh said he would coninue his mother Vera’s work: she campaigned tirelessly on her son’s case before her death in 2007.
In June remains were exhumed from a burial plot beside Urbleshanny Church, near Scotstown, in Co Monaghan after a tip-off indicated that there may have been a secret burial in the grave.
Fr Joe McVeigh, no relation to the murdered teen, told authorities over a year ago that a man had given him information about a secret burial in the graveyard.
– (Additional reporting PA)