The niece of Joe Lynskey has confirmed that she was that confident they had found his remains in Annyalla that she had all the funeral arrangements in place.
Maria Lynskey described the few months waiting for confirmation as "terribly bad" following the exhumation at Annyalla Cemetery.
Speaking to Northern Sound, Maria said there was "a kind of positivity surrounding the Annyalla discovery but I don't know why". She said she thought "closure was very close2 but she said "I've been disappointed before".
In 1972, her uncle, a former Cistercian monk from west Belfast who later joined the IRA, was abducted and murdered by the paramilitary organisation. It would be nearly 40 years later in January of 2010 before the IRA admitted responsibility.
There has been a number of unsuccessful searches for the remains of Mr Lynskey since 2010. The Independent Commission for the Location of Victims' Remains (ICLVR) at the end of 2024 said it received information about suspicious activity during the 1970s at a grave in Annyalla cemetery.
They said that both the timeframe and the location coincide with the disappearance of Joe Lynskey in 1972. Maria said her father died 30 years ago without ever knowing what happened to his brother, and she said finding his remains would finally bring closure. She said it has been left to her to finally allow her uncle to have a christen burial.
