'Shot like a dog in a bog and buried like a dog in a bog'. These were the sentiments expressed today by Oliver McVeigh whose brother Columba remains undiscovered at Bragan Bog in Monaghan after he was abducted, murdered, and secretly buried by the IRA in 1975.
The search for Columba's remains resumed in the area this morning and Oliver says that he will find his brother no matter how long it takes. He once again appealed for those with information on the Disappeared to come forward and make it known to the The Independent Commission for the Location of Victims' Remains.
Mr McVeigh says the family will never give up searching for Columba. "We didn't know anything until the late 1990s which is truly harrowing. Shot like a dog in a bog and buried like a dog in the bog, and just left to rot there. When you think of the human rights issues, it's a war crime when you think about it.
"But we are quite prepared to forget those things if we find his body and get to bury him in a Christian grave," he added. Meanwhile, Cavan Monaghan Fianna Fail TD, Deputy Brendan Smith, also called for those with information to come forward.
He says there are people out there who know, and they have a responsibility now to give the information to the Independent Commission. Deputy Smith also highlighted how "moving, thoughtful and reflective" the Remembrance Mass for the Disappeared was yesterday in Co Armagh.
He added that hearing calls by family members that all they want, is to give their loved ones a Christian burial goes against the grain. The local TD said nobody looks forward to a funeral but because these families have been so traumatised by what has happened, laying their loved ones to rest is all that matters to them.
"There were many, many atrocities and heinous crimes carried out by paramilitary organisations, some of them masquerading as Republicans; some of them masquerading as Loyalists; and British State Forces carried out some desperate crimes as well.
"But those who disappeared people had to be the cruelest of all. Every atrocity is cruel and every criminal act is wrong, and must be condemned. But to abduct a person, maybe for all we know torture them probably, then murder them, and secretly bury them. What a crime? And, what cruelty?
And, Minister Heather Humphreys told Northern Sound that Columba McVeigh's family have waited almost 50 years for progress. She said Columba was only 19-years-old when he thought he was getting a lift home from Dublin but he never made it home.
The Minister urged those with information to provide it and allow Columba McVeigh the dignity of being laid to rest beside his mother and father. "The family of Columba McVeigh have waited all most 50 years to make progress.
"Columba McVeigh was a young man; he was 19; he thought he was getting a lift home from Dublin, and he never got home. I heard his sister speaking this morning and I have met his brother and that family have just been waiting and waiting so that Columba can be laid to rest beside his parents," she added.
