The remains of IRA murder victim Jean McConville have arrived at her son's home in Co Antrim where her funeral will be held on Saturday.
Mrs McConville's remains were received by members of her family in Dublin this morning after they were formally released by the Coroner's Office.
They were driven to Co Louth in a hearse followed by three cars carrying family members. The cortege stopped for a minute's silence at a crossroads near Carlingford, near Shelling Hill beach, where the murdered woman's remains were found in August.
A Garda car also accompanied the hearse until it reached the border near Newry.
The coffin will be kept in the home of Mrs McConville's son Michael in Crumlin, Co Antrim, in advance of a requiem Mass which is expected to be held at St Paul's Cathedral Church, not far from the Sinn Fein headquarters on the Falls Road, west Belfast.
Among those due to attend the funeral are up to 100 members of the extended McConville family, as well as members of the families of other victims kidnapped and shot by the IRA.
Some of their bodies have yet to be recovered. Gardai who searched for victims are also due to attend the funeral.
It is understood there had been pressure from some republicans fearing the embarrassment it would cause the IRA if it proceeded the full length of the Falls Road.
Mrs McConville, then 37, was shot by IRA gunmen who seized her at the front door of her home in west Belfast, where she went to the aid of an injured British soldier just before Christmas in 1972.
She will be buried on Saturday in her husband's grave.
There were reports today that one of Mrs McConville's daughters, Ms Helen McKendry, would not be attending the funeral because of a dispute with other family members over the arrangements.
Mr McKendry said siblings and what she termed "more sinister elements" had excluded her from any involvement in the burial preparations.
Meanwhile, Monsignor Denis Faul, who has been active in the campaign for the return of victims' remains, said he welcomed the IRA's recent apology for the abduction, murder and secret burial of several people during the troubles.
"They have done it and have followed up with an apology which I hope will be helpful to the families and I welcome their apology.
"But it must be accompanied by explanations, by compensations and by completion, of course, with the return of the bodies," he said.
Additional reporting PA