The Taoiseach last night welcomed the confirmation that the remains found on Shelling Hill beach in Co Louth were those of Belfast woman Jean McConville, abducted by the IRA 31 years ago.
The confirmation came following DNA tests on the remains, discovered two months ago. Mrs McConville, then (31) and the mother of a young family, was killed after she was taken from her home in west Belfast. Earlier she had comforted a dying British soldier shot nearby.
Mrs McConville's son-in-law, Mr Stephen McKendry, said of the news, which was conveyed to the family about 4.30 p.m. yesterday: "We're totally confused. You think you're prepared for this, and you're not. There are still questions to be answered. Will there ever be closure? Will there ever be a public apology?
"Senior Provos have said they not believe she was a Mata Hari figure. Will they say so publicly?" Mr McKendry urged representatives of Sinn Féin to give the location of the rest of the bodies of the disappeared. He also urged people to remember the disappeared in the forthcoming Northern elections.
"There's young Gareth O'Connor from Armagh. He only disappeared a few months ago." He said the family was now discussing arrangements for a funeral. Some family members wanted a quiet private funeral but the family had had messages from all around the world from people who wanted to be there.Mrs McConville's son Michael said: "They murdered her for nothing and then tried to smear her. I want them to apologise for what they did. I want them to clear her name."
Mr McConville added: "I knew all along this was my mother but I'm relieved we've got confirmation.
"It means the family will have a grave to go to to pay their respects. It brings closure. But I want the IRA to apologise." The Fine Gael leader, Mr Enda Kenny, called on the IRA to renew co-operation with the authorities to help locate the bodies of other "disappeared" victims so that they could be buried by their families.
He said confirmation that the body found last August was that of Mrs McConville would come as a huge relief to her family. "Their grief during this time has been greatly worsened by the failure of the IRA to return their mother's body," he said.