In the 30 years of the Troubles in Northern Ireland, over 3,500 people were killed.
Among those numbers were 16 people who were disappeared, meaning their families had
no bodies to bury. The Northern Ireland Legislative Assembly today debated the
effort to help bring closure for these families. In the past number of years progress
has been made with nine of the 16 disappeared being successfully located and their
bodies returned to their loved ones.
However, the remains of seven victims
have still not been located.
“While a lot of progress has been made in locating
the remains of disappeared victims, a lot more remains to be done and can be done
if people come forward to the Commission with information about the location of victims’
remains.,” said MLA Dominic Bradley (SDLP)
“Some families are still waiting
to give their loved ones a proper Christian burial and it is vital that they are given
answers and the opportunity to lay their relative to rest,” he said. “These families
have endured so much pain over the years and deserve some form of justice.”
Listen
to interview by Charles Collins with Dominic Bradley: