Gardaí are today resuming their search in Co Monaghan for the remains of Columba McVeigh, writes Gerry Moriarty, Northern Editor.
Mr McVeigh, a 17-year-old from Donaghmore in Co Tyrone, was abducted and killed in 1975 by the IRA, which claimed that he was spying for the British army.
Mrs Vera McVeigh, his 79-year-old mother, last night expressed the hope that this search would allow her the peace and comfort of being able to bury her son.
She directed her anger to the IRA for murdering her son and to the British army for seeking to recruit him.
After the IRA provided information in 1999 on the possible whereabouts of nine people it killed in the period from 1972 to 1981 a search was conducted at Bragan in Co Monaghan for the body of Mr McVeigh.
The search on land near Emyvale proved unsuccessful, but just over a week ago the IRA issued a statement saying it had provided new information about where his body was buried.
Mr McVeigh was described as a vulnerable, immature youth who had learning difficulties. Mr Fred Holroyd, who in the mid-1970s was a captain working for British military intelligence responsible for recruiting and running agents, said yesterday that the youth was recruited to try to spy on the IRA.
He told The Sunday Show on RTÉ that he had learned from a colleague in military intelligence how Mr McVeigh was allegedly recruited. The plan, said Mr Holroyd, was that Mr McVeigh should plant ammunition on himself and that this information would then be passed to the security forces who in good faith would seek to arrest him.
"He would go on the run and whilst he was on the run would approach various figures indicated to him who were believed to be involved in IRA activity, asking for help," he added. "Ideally he would then be passed down the pipeline to the South, trained in the IRA, come back and be able to tell his handler who was involved in all of this."
Mr McVeigh was living in Dublin when he was taken away by the IRA in the Dolphin's Barn area.