The first sentiments, as the bodies of the "Disappeared" are yielded up, must be of sympathy and support for the bereaved families which have had to endure a Calvary of suffering for more than two decades. To the grief of loss, in their cases, has been added the unremitting pain of not knowing where or how their loved ones died, whether their mortal remains received rudimentary decencies and whether they would ever have a proper leave-taking. Of all the agonies which have been generated by the Troubles, that which has been visited upon them, has surely been among the cruellest.
These are remarkable people. They persevered over the years, never relenting in their search for answers. They endured contemptuous silence and insidious rumour. They withstood threats. They refused to allow the memories of their loved ones to be buried along with their bodies in the sand dunes or remote places chosen by their IRA murderers. Their stories and the stories of those taken away to be shot, encapsulate the obscenity of the so-called "armed struggle". They tell of a young widow whose crime was to comfort a dying British soldier and of her nine children, left in the charge of their 15-year-old sister before being taken away by the social services. They tell of teenage youths who fell foul of IRA vigilantes. They tell of men tortured, interrogated and shot in fields, in woods, in bogs.
There can be no thankfulness to those who have agreed, at this point, to have the remains of these victims returned to their loved ones. Murder does not become expiated by the passage of time. The ultimate injustice of taking a life cannot be mitigated by any concession. Those who are deserving of acknowledgment in this matter are the intermediaries and the negotiators, both official and unofficial, who have worked with great skill and sensitivity over the past two years in particular, to achieve the understanding which has now, hopefully, made possible the recovery of the remains of all of those who disappeared at the hands of the IRA.
It may also be possible, in these developments, to recognise a significant milestone in the peace process. Many of those who analyse the thinking of the IRA will see in this yielding up, a declaration that a chapter has closed; that this is a balancing of the books or a tidying-up of unfinished business; that the dreadful deeds which are represented in these unmarked graves are a thing of the past and will be no more. It may be an affirmation, in the IRA's symbolism, that the war is finally over. If so, it is welcome and can give some positive meaning to the grim endeavours of the exhumation parties now at work at the various sites which have been identified. It remains to be seen how these developments can fit into the broader picture of negotiations on the full implementation of the Belfast Agreement and, in particular, on the establishment of the executive. It can be taken that the timing of these events will have been carefully calculated by the IRA in order to secure any possible advantage, electoral or otherwise. They can be presented as evidence of a conciliatory disposition by the IRA and Sinn Fein's negotiators are entitled to feel that they should be part of the calculus. But it is fanciful to think that they might be accepted simpliciter as an alternative to the decommissioning of weapons. But they may - and should - help to improve the atmosphere within which efforts continue to secure a full implementation of the Agreement.