Grave in Co Monaghan exhumed in search for Disappeared victim Joe Lynskey

By David Young (PA)

A grave in Co Monaghan has been exhumed by experts searching for Disappeared victim of the Northern Ireland Troubles Joe Lynskey.

The Independent Commission for the Location of Victims’ Remains (ICLVR) said a formal process would be undertaken to establish the identity of all the remains found in the grave in the village of Annyalla.

Mr Lynskey, a former monk from Belfast who later joined the IRA, was abducted, murdered and secretly buried by the IRA in 1972.

The commission said it had received information related to “suspicious historic activity” during the 1970s at a grave in Annyalla cemetery.

“Both the time frame and the location coincide with the disappearance of Joe Lynskey in 1972,” the commission said in a statement.

The ICLVR did not become aware that Mr Lynskey was one of the Disappeared until 2010.

A number of searches since then failed to locate his remains.

The commission said the process of establishing the identity of the remains found in the grave “may take some time”.

Mr Lynskey was one of 17 people who were Disappeared by republican paramilitaries during the Troubles.

The commission was set up by the UK and Irish governments during the peace process to investigate their whereabouts. Thirteen have been formally found.

As well as Mr Lynskey, the commission is also tasked with finding three other Disappeared victims – Co Tyrone teenager Columba McVeigh, British Army Captain Robert Nairac, and Seamus Maguire, who was in his mid-20s and from near Lurgan, Co Armagh.

Joe Lynskey, who was abducted and murdered by the IRA in 1972