DNA tests carried out on bodies in a grave have confirmed that none of them were Joe Lynskey, it has been confirmed.
The tests were carried in an effort to establish if any of the remains were those of the ‘Disappeared’ former monk who is understood to have been murdered and buried by the IRA in 1972.
The Independent Commission for the Location of Victims’ Remains (ICLVR) exhumed the remains at the Annyalla cemetery in Co Monaghan last November. The ICLVR said they had received information about suspicious activity during the 1970s at a grave in the cemetery.
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At the time they said that “both the timeframe and the location coincide with the disappearance of Joe Lynskey in 1972”. With the negative result in the latest search, it means the ICLVR is still looking for Joe Lynskey, Columba McVeigh, Robert Nairac and Seamus Maguire.
In its statement issued on Monday morning, the Commission said: “In an effort to locate the remains of Joe Lynskey, one of the Disappeared who went missing in the summer of 1972, human remains were exhumed from a grave in Annyalla Cemetery, Co Monaghan on 26 November 2024.
“The results of the DNA examination of the remains have now eliminated them as being those of the family to whom the grave belongs and now also eliminated them as being those of Joe Lynskey or any of the Disappeared.
“All the interested parties including the Lynskey family have been informed. We know that this news is deeply disappointing for the Lynskey family and the thoughts of everyone in the Commission are with them at this most difficult time.
“We are also conscious that this was a distressing experience for the family whose grave was opened to facilitate the exhumation. We are grateful for their co-operation and support at all stages of the process. The Commission will continue to do everything in its power to locate and recover the remains of all of the outstanding Disappeared cases.”
So far, the remains of 13 of the Disappeared have been recovered. A former Cistercian monk from the Beechmount area of west Belfast, Mr Lynskey later joined the IRA. He went missing in 1972, and republicans have claimed he was "executed and buried" by the IRA.
The disappearance of Mr Maguire was taken on as a new case by the ICLVR in 2022. The Commission says that anyone with information on the four outstanding Disappeared cases should contact the ICLVR on +353 1 602 8655 or [email protected] or ICLVR PO Box 10827 Dublin, Ireland. All information is treated in the strictest confidence, they say.
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