Daughter will attend funeral

The remains of Mrs McConville reach Carlingford near the border

A daughter of IRA murder victim Jean McConville has decided to attend her mother's funeral despite a family row.

The mother-of-ten's family received the remains which were found on a beach in the Republic of Ireland in August for burial on Thursday.

Mrs McConville, 37, was abducted and murdered by the IRA after she went to the aid of a fatally wounded British soldier outside her front door in 1974.

She is one of the nine so-called Disappeared who were murdered by the IRA and secretly buried during the 1970s.

Her daughter Helen McKendry, who has fallen out with her brothers and sisters, said she would only attend as a member of the public.

"They are begging me to be there, saying 'if you don't, you will regret it'," she said.

"I'm going with my husband, children and the McKendry family.

"We will not be joining the McConville family, but will be standing with the public, because after all, it was the public that stood by me.

"That's enough for me, and I think I will get closure."

Mrs McConville's remains were accompanied from Dublin City Mortuary by a number of relatives on Thursday.

Paid respects

On the way back to Belfast, the family stopped at Carlingford, near the beach where their mother's remains were found, to allow people to pay their respects.

Her funeral is expected to take place in Belfast on Saturday and she will be buried afterwards in Lisburn, County Antrim.

The coffin has been taken to the home of Mrs McConville's son, Michael, in Crumlin, County Antrim, where her body will remain until Saturday.

After Saturday's funeral service, the cortege is expected to make its way to Divis Street in Belfast, from where Mrs McConville was abducted, and a minute's silence will be held.

Jean McConville was a mother of ten children

Police confirmed last week that remains, found at Shelling Hill beach in County Louth in August, were those of Mrs McConville.

Irish police confirmed that she had died from a bullet wound to the head.

Last week, the IRA apologised for the grief caused to the families of the Disappeared.

The organisation said it was sorry that the suffering of the families had continued for so long.

But Mrs McConville's family said the IRA's apology meant nothing.