Gardaí in County Monaghan have uncovered a second set of human remains where they have been digging for the past four weeks in a search for the bodies of 23 year-old Brian McKinney and 17-year-old John McClory, who disappeared from Belfast in 1978. The coffins containing the remains of the two have been brought to the Dublin city morgue for further examination. Three months ago, the IRA admitted killing the pair, claiming they had stolen weapons from one of its arms dumps to use in robberies.
The Minister for Justice, John O'Donoghue, has praised the Gardaí in their meticulous search of the site in County Monaghan, and has also renewed his appeal to anybody who has information about the location of the secret burial places of other victims to make come forward.
The Fine Gael Leader John Bruton has welcomed the discovery of the remains of the victims at the Monaghan site. He also praised the Gardaí for their relentless diligence in excavating the sites over the past eight weeks. However, he expressed surprise that the vast efforts being made by the security forces had not yielded up the remains of all the victims by now.
A search at Bragan, Emyvale in County Monaghan was extended last week. The Gardaí said that it was because of information received from the Commission investigating the disappearances. The site is believed to contain the remains of Columba McVeigh from County Tyrone. He was abducted and murdered by the IRA in 1975. The IRA informed the commission late last month that the graves of eight victims would be found at these locations.
