Sir, - The cases of the unburied bodies of the 13 persons murdered by the IRA or associates between 1972 and 1981 have caused acute human suffering to innocent, inoffensive families.
Hope leads to expectation, which leads to preparation for an event. If the event is achieved there is great satisfaction and contentment; if not, there is disappointment and despair.
Retrace the recent sequence of events. On March 29th a statement from the IRA named nine persons who were murdered and said they "had located their whereabouts". Most of the relatives had visits from messengers telling them there was "accurate" information about the bodies. Stories, true or false, were circulated, saying the families were not to have post-mortems or public funerals. All this hype increased the expectation almost to a certainty that these relatives would soon have their bodies in their possession. Two families went out and bought graves for their loved ones.
When the IRA demanded that the two governments in Dublin and London should pass legislation preventing any evidence found in the graves or connected with the remains of the deceased being used in court, the expectations of the people rose to a great height.
On Friday, May 29th, a coffin was left in Faughart graveyard containing the alleged remains of Eamon Molloy. Relatives of the dead thought they would all have the bodies during that weekend. The setting up of an international commission further increased the hopes of all families.
When an announcement was made that the bodies were all buried south of the Border, a slight doubt crept into the minds of those who knew that three of them had been murdered in Belfast and probably buried there.
Over the next week the places designated by the IRA were examined and nothing was found. Then Sinn Fein and the commission began to talk about geology and climate changes and shifts in the earth, and that digging would have to go on for some time.
Now, after 20 days of digging, with no bodies found, it must be time to reassess the situation amid the flattened hopes and expectations of the families. These families have been injured again. One has to have suspicions that there never was any "accurate" information about the bodies, with the possible exception of the coffin left in Faughart containing the alleged remains of Eamon Molloy. The IRA and its associates in Sinn Fein seem to have put out inaccurate stories and untruthful information, which deceived the two governments into passing risky legislation, setting up an international commission of distinguished members and asking the Garda to spend three weeks digging for bodies that were never there.
If the IRA has no accurate information about where the bodies are, it should say so, even though such a state of affairs would be a dreadful reflection on its level of civilised human and Christian values. Let us have no more deceit and duplicity leading to heartbreak among families and among honest intermediaries, who have tried so hard. Where are the dead sons of 13 of our families? They are with God and their bodies await the day of resurrection. - Yours, etc., Mgr Denis Faul, PP,
Parochial House, Carrickmore, Co Tyrone.