Remains found in grave not those of Disappeared victim

Human remains exhumed from a grave in County Monaghan four months ago are not those of Joe Lynskey, the organisation set up to find the Disappeared 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.

DNA test results do not match those of the family to whom the grave belongs to either, or any of the remaining Disappeared, the Independent Commission for the Location of Victims Remains (ICLVR) said.

The Irish police service, An Garda Síochána, has notified the local coroner and said attempts had begun to find out who the remains belonged to.

Northern Ireland Secretary Hilary Benn said he was "saddened to hear" the exhumation in the search for Mr Lynskey's remains has not been successful.

"My thoughts are with his family, who have faced decades of uncertainty and heartache," Benn added in a statement.

He has urged anyone who may have information that could locate Mr Lynskey's remains, or those of the remaining Disappeared, "to come forward in confidence to the ICLVR".

'Deeply distressing'

The ICLVR carried out the exhumation at Annyalla cemetery in November, after receiving information about suspicious activity at a grave during the 1970s.

The timeframe and the location coincided with Mr Lynskey's disappearance.

The ICLVR confirmed the outcome of tests on the remains in a statement.

It described the news as "deeply disappointing" for Mr Lynskey's family.

The exhumation was carried out at Annyalla cemetery four months ago

"The results of the DNA examination have now eliminated them as being those of the family to whom the grave belongs and now also eliminated them as being those of Joe Lynskey or any of the Disappeared," the ICLVR said.

"All the interested parties including the Lynskey family have been informed.

"We know that this news is deeply disappointing for the Lynskey family and the thoughts of everyone in the commission are with them at this most difficult time.

"We are also conscious that this was a distressing experience for the family whose grave was opened to facilitate the exhumation.

"We are grateful for their co-operation and support at all stages of the process."

Lynskey family had made funeral preparations

The chief executive of the Wave Trauma Centre, Sandra Peake, said the news was "deeply disappointing" for the Lynskey family.

"There had been ongoing speculation and stories in relation to him being taken to that area, all of that added up and therefore there was every expectation that hopefully that this actually might allow Joe to finally be brought back to Milltown Cemetery and to be laid to rest in the family grave," Ms Peake told BBC News NI.

She added that Mr Lynskey's niece Maria had "made preparations and prepared a funeral, right down even to choosing an undertaker and looking at who would do a reading".

"When you come to that level of preparation, and then for it to be pulled away, it's deeply disappointing," Ms Peake said.

The chief executive of the Wave Trauma Centre, Sandra Peake, said this was "deeply disappointing" for the Lynskey family

'Especially cruel'

Jon Hill, the lead investigator of the ICLVR, said it was "cruel" for the Lynskey family, but that it would now progress with a number of other strands of information.

"The Commission is completely committed to this cause," he told BBC News NI.

"There was never definitive information saying this is where Joe Lynskey was buried.

"They [the Lynskey family] have been disappointed before, it is just so cruel that it is the same family that this event has happened to now on two occasions.

"It is especially cruel, but I don't know what more we can do about that, we can only undertake what we believe to be right.

"We have tried to manage their expectations throughout, but of course they will have expectations and hopes."

Archbishop of Armagh Eamon Martin said he was "sorry" for the Lynskey family as well as the family the grave belongs to

The head of the Catholic Church in Ireland, Archbishop of Armagh Eamon Martin, said he was "sorry" for the Lynskey family and the family to whom the grave belongs.

"I can only imagine how distressing it has been for them, as well," he told BBC's Good Morning Ulster programme.

"I think this really reminds us, it really does, about the difficulties and the awful legacy of our past and how we are very conscious now of finding ways of really helping all families to be able to cope with the awful legacy and hurts of what happened in our conflict.

"I think the families of the Disappeared have been amazing witnesses for us and very courageously showing us about how they can comfort one another even through awful and terrible times like it has been for the Lynskey family this last number of months."

Ireland's justice minister, Jim O'Callaghan, said his thoughts were with the Lynskey family.

"I held hope that the Lynskey family would finally be able to lay him to rest," he said.

"I am saddened that this is not the case."

Who are the Disappeared?

The Disappeared are a group of 17 people whose bodies were buried at secret locations between 1972 and 1985.

The remains of 13 have been found so far.

The ICLVR has said it will do "everything in its power" to recover the remains of the four others.

"We would again appeal to anyone with information relating to Joe Lynskey, Columba McVeigh, Robert Nairac or Seamus Maguire to bring it to the ICLVR where it will be treated in the strictest confidence."

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 latest search for his remains was in 2018. It ended without success.

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

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

The drama focuses on events during the Troubles, including the disappearance of mother of 10 Jean McConville as well as Kevin McKee, Seamus Wright and Joe Lynskey.