The inquest into the Provisional IRA murder of Belfast woman, Ms Jean McConville has been adjourned within hours of opening today.
The solicitor for the McConville family was granted until April to seek further information from the gardaí and police in Northern Ireland.
Ms McConville was abducted from her west Belfast flat in 1972 and had been missing until the discovery of her remains at Shelling Hill Beach outside Dundalk, Co Louth, last year.
Louth County Coroner Mr Ronan Maguire yesterday confirmed he would adjourn proceedings, saying: "I felt it was only right to allow the family more time to consult independent experts and to allow the gardaí to provide them with further information."
Mrs McConville's body was discovered in a shallow grave last August. She was one of many people "disappeared" by the IRA at the height of the Northern troubles.
The bodies of about ten victims are still missing despite extensive searches in border areas based on information provided to authorities by the Provisionals.
The IRA admitted responsibility for Ms McConville's murder, claiming she had been an informer - an allegation her family vigorously denied.
A post-mortem examination confirmed that the mother-of-ten, who was 37-years-old at the time of her death, had died from a gunshot wound to the head.
Her remains were then laid to rest in Lisburn, Co Antrim, alongside her husband Arthur, who had died a few months before her murder.
Additional reporting PA