Fragments of human remains found in search for Disappeared Joe Lynskey

Joe Lynskey disappeared in 1972

Fragments of human remains have been found at a site that was previously searched for remains of Joe Lynskey, the Independent Commission for the Location of Victims' Remains (ICLVR) has said.

Mr Lynskey, from west Belfast, is one of the Disappeared - a group of 17 people who were abducted, murdered and secretly buried during The Troubles in Northern Ireland.

In March, DNA tests showed that remains found at a search of Annyalla Cemetery in County Monaghan last year, were not those of Mr Lynskey.

On Friday, the ICLVR said that information came to them indicating another "small area of interest" within the confines of the cemetery, not another family grave site.

In a statement, the lead investigator of the ICLVR Eamonn Henry said he wanted to "emphasise that this information did not relate directly“ to the disappearance of Joe Lynskey.

"Until we have a positive identification or the elimination of the remains as those of Joe Lynskey or any of the other of the Disappeared we have to keep an open mind."

The remains were discovered in Annyalla Cemetery

The state pathologist in the Republic has been notified and the remains have been taken away for technical examination.

The Lynskey family have been informed of the development.

"We know only too well that the Lynskey family have had hopes raised before only to be bitterly disappointed and so, as ever, expectations have to be managed," Mr Henry said.

"The process of identification could take some time and we will continue to offer the family what support we can.

"Regardless of the outcome, this work at Annyalla shows that where we have credible information we will act on it."

Who was Joe Lynskey?

A former Cistercian monk from the Beechmount area of west Belfast, Mr Lynskey later joined the IRA.

Mr Lynskey went missing in 1972, and republicans have claimed he was "executed and buried" by the IRA.

The A previous search for his remains took place in 2018. It ended without success.

Last November, his niece said that his body "needs to be brought home".

It was announced in March that human remains exhumed from a grave in County Monaghan in November 2024 were not those of Mr Lynskey.

Who were the Disappeared?

The Disappeared are those who were abducted, murdered and secretly buried by republicans during Northern Ireland's Troubles.

Despite extensive and painstaking searches, the bodies have never been found of four out of 17 people listed by a commission set up to locate victims' remains.

Searches have been carried out by the Independent Commission for the Location of Victims' Remains, established in 1999 by a treaty between the British and Irish governments to obtain information in strictest confidence that may lead to where the bodies are buried.

So far, the remains of 13 of the Disappeared have been recovered.

The remaining four are Joe Lynskey, Columba McVeigh, Seamus Maguire and Robert Nairac.

The disappearance of Seamus Maguire was taken on as a new case by the ICLVR in 2022, and, last month, a fresh appeal was made for information relating to his disappearance.

A renewed search for Robert Nairac's remains ended without success in October 2024.

A sixth search for Columba McVeigh ended in November 2023.

The plight of the Disappeared has been further highlighted in recent months due to the release of the Disney+ series, Say Nothing.