A search for the remains of undercover British soldier Robert Nairac, one of the Disappeared, will begin in Co Louth on Monday.
It will take place on a “relatively small” piece of land – less than one acre – in the Faughart area, the Independent Commission for the Location of Victims Remains (ICLVR) said.
It is the first time a search has taken place for Mr Nairac since he was murdered and secretly buried by the IRA in May 1977.
A captain in the Grenadier Guards, he was working undercover when he was abducted from the Three Steps Bar in Dromintee in south Armagh and taken to Ravensdale Forest near Dundalk where he was beaten and shot.
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He is among 17 people known as the Disappeared who were killed and secretly buried by paramilitaries during the North’s Troubles. Four, including Mr Nairac, are still missing.
Speaking ahead of the beginning of the search, the lead investigator with the ICLVR, Jon Hill, said Mr Nairac was “one of the highest profile Disappeared and yet his case is one in which we have had very little to go on. We believe that we do now have sufficient credible information to warrant a search.”
He said the search would “differ in a number of respects from that recently completed – regrettably without success – for Columba McVeigh at Bragan Bog, Co Monaghan.
“First of all, it is being carried out on private land and the land owner and tenant farmer have asked us not to reveal its precise location for reasons of privacy, which we fully understand and I hope that is respected particularly by the media as the search gets under way.
“I want to make it clear that neither the landowner nor the tenant have any connection whatsoever with our decision to search in this particular location.
“The area itself is relatively small, less than one acre, and farmland is inherently more stable than the bogland we have had to work on in other searches for the Disappeared.
“While the weather is always a factor we have to deal with, I would hope that we will get a relatively clear run at this one,” Mr Hill said.
The site is part of an area of significant archaeological interest, and Mr Hill said the ICLVR was “grateful for the support and co-operation of the National Monuments Service who have an interest in the wider area in which the Hill of Faughart has been identified as a 14th-century battle site.
“Given that, we may uncover archaeology or even historic remains. We have taken additional measures to cater for that eventuality and so we don’t anticipate that causing any insurmountable issues with our search.”
He said the search would “continue until we have found the remains that we are looking for or are satisfied that they are not there”.
“We are not time limited but given the relatively small area by our standards I do not anticipate a protracted search period of many months.
“The Nairac family have been told that a search is about to commence and we will of course keep them informed of any developments,” he said.
“I am not going to put a number on the degree of confidence that we have that we will find the remains of Robert Nairac but what I can say is that if they are there, we have the skills, ability and experience to find them.”
He appealed for anyone with information on any of the four outstanding ICLVR Disappeared cases – Joe Lynskey, Columba McVeigh, Robert Nairac and Seamus Maguire – to contact the ICLVR in confidence by telephone on 00800-55585500 or +353 1 602 8655, via email to Secretary@iclvr.ie or by post to ICLVR PO Box 10827.
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