Almost 43 years after Séamus Wright and Kevin McKee were abducted by the IRA, two hearses crossed a field at Coghalstown, Co Meath, on Friday to collect what is believed to be their remains from an unmarked grave.
The hearses had held off, parked in the grounds of the Wilkinstown Community Centre nearby, until the families of the two men had arrived to pay their respects.
A small group comprising local priest Fr John O’Brien, Geoff Knupfer and staff of the Independent Commission for the Location of Victims’ Remains, stood with the families as the remains were placed in coffins.
They then walked slowly behind the hearses as they travelled back across the field to an impromptu car park near a cattle shed.
The families later released a joint statement saying they hoped they could “at last see an end to the torment that has lasted over 40 years and bring Séamus and Kevin home”. They added: “We want to thank the Independent Commission for the Location of Victims’ Remains and whoever provided information to the ICLVR.
“Without that information this would never have happened. While this will change the lives of our families our thoughts are with the Lynskey family and all those who still wait for the news that their loved ones have been found. We pray for them.”
Both families asked for privacy. Wright and McKee both disappeared in Belfast on October 2nd, 1972. It is widely believed they were taken and interrogated by the IRA for a period of weeks before being killed by an IRA killing squad called “the unknowns”.
Wright, who was aged 25, was an asphalt worker and was married. McKee, who was 17, was also from Belfast.
Postmortem
Mr Knupfer said the remains would be taken to Dublin where a postmortem would be carried out, most likely on Monday. Following this DNA samples would be taken from the remains to confirm what the commission already thought “very likely”.
The commission has been stripping away topsoil from a six hectare area of the reclaimed bog at Coghalstown, about 10km north of Navan, since March.
Earlier this week, the commission was looking for the body of former Cistercian monkJoe Lynskey when they discovered the remains believed to be Wright and McKee.
Mr Knupfer said the commission organised its digs on the basis of intelligence received and did not dig on a speculative basis. He said the search for the remains of Lynskey would continue in coming weeks.
The Lynskey family said in a statement said they were grateful to the commission and to those who had engaged with it in the search.
Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams welcomed news that remains had been discovered.
“The uncertainty over who has been recovered must be hugely traumatic for the families involved.
“I am sure that the commission will move as speedily as it can to verify the identity of those who have been found,” he said.
Minister for Justice Frances Fitzgerald said she hopes the suffering of at least some of the families will now be eased.
