Mother's lost hope over son

Columba McVeigh's mother, Vera, visits the site

A mother whose son was abducted, murdered and secretly buried by the IRA 28 years ago has said she fears his body will never be recovered.

Vera McVeigh was speaking a day after a third search for the remains of her son, Columba, in a bog in Emyvale, County Monaghan, was called off.

The 17-year-old from from Donaghmore in County Tyrone - one of the so-called Disappeared - was kidnapped and shot in 1975.

Gardai completed their excavation of the main site at a bog at Bragan near Emyvale on Saturday afternoon.

Two smaller sites in the area were searched on Sunday, but with nothing foun, the operation came to an end.

The two-week search followed new information passed to the Irish Government by the IRA.

'I adored him'

With the search called off, Mrs McVeigh said she was left with little more than she had the day her son was abducted in Dublin.

But she said her only comfort was that although her son's body was undiscovered, his spirit was elsewhere.

"Many a thing people have to do and find a road around it," she said.

"They're not satisfied with it, but they have to be that way inclined, that they have to try to keep it behind them, or keep it beside them and not let it get ahead of them.

"That's the way I am. But it would be lovely if he was home, if he was near hand. He would be 46 or 45.

"He was a loveable lad and I loved and adored him and still do."

Earlier on Monday, Irish police said no further searches for the remains of the Disappeared would take place unless the IRA gave exact information.

The Commissioner for the Location of Victims' Remains, Sir Kenneth Bloomfield, said it was extremely difficult for relatives who had their hopes raised and then dashed.

"Certainly, I would say that any further information coming forward in this case ...would have to be very, very carefully assessed," he said.

"What is involved here is an enormous effort by the Gardai, not something to be undertaken lightly.

Columba McVeigh: Disappeared in 1975

"There is a real danger in this that one raises hopes, only to have them dashed again, and I query whether that is in the best interests of those concerned."

The latest dig concentrated on an area about the size of a football field, adjacent to where previous searches took place in 1999 and 2000.

Solidarity

Agnes McConville, the daughter of Jean McConville who was murdered by the IRA in 1972, visited the scene to show solidarity with the McVeigh family.

In 1999, the IRA offered to help locate the bodies of the nine Disappeared but the remains of Mrs McConville and Mr McVeigh were not found, despite extensive excavations.

Only three bodies were found.

It is thought remains recovered from a beach in County Louth last month were Mrs McConville's.

DNA tests are currently being carried out to establish if the remains are those of the Belfast mother of 10.