The Independent Commission for the Location of Victims' Remains (ICLVR) has announced that the most recent search for the remains of Columba McVeigh on Bragan Bog Co Monaghan has ended without success.
They say the McVeigh family has been informed. Columba McVeigh was abducted, murdered and secretly buried by the IRA in 1975 when he was aged 19.
Speaking as the search came to an end Lead Investigator for the ICLVR Eamonn Henry said: "This is devastating news for the McVeigh family coming as it does so close to the 50th anniversary of Columba's disappearance just over a month ago. He said our hearts go out to them.
Everyone involved in the search including the ICLVR investigators, the forensic archaeologists and the contractors who operate the machinery are bitterly disappointed and share the frustration of the McVeigh family that yet another search of the bog has ended in this way.
Over 26 acres of Bragan Bog have now been searched and while the LCLVR continue to believe that the information they are working on has been given in good faith clearly there is still something missing.
Mr Henry says he can assure the McVeigh family and the other families of the Disappeared who give them invaluable support that the Commission remains fully committed to finding Columba and we will not rest until his remains are returned and he receives the Christian burial that he has been denied for far too long.
Minister for Justice, Home Affairs & Migration Jim O’Callaghan has today expressed his regret that the recent search by the Independent Commission for the Location of Victims’ Remains (ICLVR) at Bragan Bog, Co Monaghan for the remains of Columba McVeigh has concluded without success. Minister O’Callaghan said:
“When the Commission began this search in August, I hoped that Columba McVeigh’s family would finally have the solace of being able to lay him to rest. I am disappointed that, in spite of the continued efforts of the Commission, Columba’s remains have not been located at Bragan Bog, Co Monaghan.
“I want to acknowledge the unwavering determination of the Commission to locate Columba since the first search at Bragan Bog was conducted in 1999. I would also like to thank the National Parks and Wildlife Service for its assistance in the preparation of this search.
“Today, my sympathies are with Columba’s family who have lived with this uncertainty for so many years but have done so much to keep Columba in our collective thoughts.”
