IRA finally admits killing mother of ten
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.AFTER MORE than a quarter of a century, the IRA has finally admitted that it was responsible for the abduction and murder of a mother of ten children in the early years of the troubles.
The admission follows a four-year campaign by the family of Mrs Jean McConville for information about her death and about the whereabouts of her body.
One of her daughters, Mrs Helen McKendry, yesterday told a BBC Radio Ulster programme that an IRA representative had confirmed that the organisation had killed her mother but that it could not say where the body was.
The programme, Talkback, highlighted the issue four years ago when, in the wake of the 1994 IRA ceasefire, members of the McConville family first felt free to discuss the matter. Mrs McConville was one of more than a dozen missing people, who had come to be known as "the disappeared". Since then the issue has remained in the public eye with President Clinton calling on republicans to supply information about those missing.
The case of Mrs McConville is regarded as particularly poignant because her death had such far-reaching effects. A widow and mother of ten children, she was taken from her Divis Flats home by a group of republican women and never seen again. Many of the children were taken into care as her family broke up. Mrs McKendry told Talkback that she had recently attending a meeting with an IRA member and other people.
She said: "I was told that the IRA killed my mother back in 1972, but they are afraid to talk about what happened then."The man had said that he was doing all he could to get her mother's body back.
Mrs McKendry said that she had felt terrified at the meeting, and added: "It was the first time I have shown fear. I kept thinking what my mother must have been going through that day. I wasn't blindfolded - I was going of my own free will, but I kept remembering my kids' words as I left home that morning - they were afraid of history repeating itself."
Mrs McKendry believes she knows where the body is. "We sometimes feel like taking that building down ourselves brick by brick," she said.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments