Minister O’Callaghan statement on the conclusion of DNA testing on remains recovered by the ICLVR
- Foilsithe: 24 Márta 2025
- An t-eolas is déanaí: 12 Aibreán 2025
The Minister for Justice Jim O’Callaghan has expressed his disappointment today following confirmation that the human remains recovered recently by the Independent Commission for the Location of Victims’ Remains in Co. Monaghan are not those of Joe Lynskey.
Minister O’Callaghan said:
“When the Commission announced that unidentified remains had been found following an exhumation late last year, we all hoped that they would be identified as those of Joe Lynskey. I held hope that the Lynskey family would finally be able to lay him to rest. I am saddened that this is not the case.
“Today, my thoughts again are with the Lynskey family who have had to endure this particular cruelty for over 50 years.”
The Minister added:
“I would also acknowledge that this experience has been distressing for the family whose grave was opened in order to carry out the exhumation and I am thankful for their understanding in such difficult circumstances.
"I want also to commend the dedicated and ceaseless humanitarian work of the Independent Commission for the Location of Victims’ Remains. I assure them and the families of the Disappeared of my and the government's support for their ongoing work.
"The Commission will continue its vital work and I appeal again, today, to anyone with any information that could help the families of Columba McVeigh, Joe Lynskey, Robert Nairac and Seamus Maguire to share this information with the Commission now.”
Notes
The Independent Commission for the Location of Victims’ Remains (ICLVR) was established by an Agreement between the Government of the Ireland and the Government of the United Kingdom signed on 27 April 1999, and by legislation enacted in both jurisdictions. The ICLVR is responsible for facilitating the location of the remains of victims of paramilitary violence who were murdered and secretly buried arising from the conflict in Northern Ireland. Further information is available on the Independent Commission for the Location of Victims’ Remains (ICLVR) website.
The two current Commissioners are Mr. Tim Dalton and Mrs Rosalie Flanagan. The Department of Justice, in conjunction with the Northern Ireland Office, provides financial support for the Commission.
Information about the missing victims is fundamental to the ICLVR’s work. The ICLVR needs further information to be able to progress its investigations into the remaining disappeared victims – Columba McVeigh, Joe Lynskey, Robert Nairac and Seamus Maguire.
All information provided to the Commission is legally privileged. It can be used only to try to locate the remains of the Disappeared and cannot be passed on to other agencies or used in courts.
The ICLVR can be contacted in confidence by:
- telephone: +353 1 602 8655
- email: secretary@iclvr.ie
- post: ICLVR PO Box 10827