Latest search for Columba continues in Monaghan bog

A BROTHER of the late Columba McVeigh who was abducted and murdered by the IRA in 1975 has said it would ‘mean everything to him’ if the teenager’s remains are found as the latest searches continue in a Co Monaghan bog.

This is the sixth search for Mr McVeigh, who was only 19 when he was last seen in November 1975.

His brother, Oliver, this week visited the site of the search at Bragan Bog near Emyvale.

The search has been confirmed by the Independent Commission for the Local of Victims’ Remains (ICLVR).

Mr McVeigh was joined at the site by actor, James Nesbitt, a patron of the Wave Trauma Centre who supports the families of the Disappeared.

“It’s a bit of deja vu. We’ve been there before, but hopefully this time we will find him and have the ending we want,” Mr McVeigh said.

“We’ve had days like this before, and disappointment before. It’s a bleak area.

“Just imagine taking a 19-year-old out here, walking him out, and shooting him like a dog, burying him like a dog, and leaving him there to be never found again. Horrific.

“It’s strange. It’s been four years since the last search, but the very fact we are digging and looking for him. Yes, that’s good, but we want to find him, and not waste people’s time, and give him a Christian burial.

“It’s important to tell the IRA people we want to find his body.

“We are not going away; we want answers, and we want people to come and tell us where he is and get the exact spot.

“We don’t want any incriminations. We just want the result that will lead us to bury him in Donaghmore.”

Mr McVeigh said he was ‘fairly confident’ he is in this area.

“Columba and my mother always had a great relationship, and he was always bubbly and up to tricks. He was happy and funny and liked football,”Mr McVeigh added.

“It would mean everything to find him. We could put him in a grave with my mother and father, and we wouldn’t have to keep tormenting ourselves to find his body.

“It would mean the world, and my one legacy in life is to find his body.”

Geoff Knupfer, the lead forensic investigator with the ICLVR, reiterated his appeal for information in the four outstanding Disappeared cases – Joe Lynskey, Columba McVeigh, Robert Nairac, and Seamus Maguire.

“I’ll repeat what I said when we commenced the last search four years ago: We remain convinced that Columba was buried in Bragan Bog.”