IRA victim who vanished in 1972 finally receives Christian burial

The family of one the "Disappeared" victims of the Northern Ireland Troubles will finally give him a Christian burial today - more than 40 years after his murder.

Kevin McKee's remains lay in bog land in the Irish Republic for almost 43 years before they were found earlier this year along with another man the IRA shot and secretly buried during the conflict.

IRA men Mr McKee, 17, and Seamus Wright, 25, both vanished in Belfast in October 1972.

The IRA shot them on the suspicion they were working as British agents.

Their bodies were recovered from the same shallow grave on reclaimed bog land in Coghalstown, Co Meath in June during a dig to find a third man killed and "Disappeared" by the IRA.

Funerals for both men - Mr Wright's will take place on Tuesday - have been arranged after a summer-long wait for confirmation of DNA tests.

A requiem mass for Mr McKee will be held in St Peter's Cathedral on the Falls Road in Belfast before he is buried beside his mother in Blaris cemetery in Lisburn.

The hunt for the Disappeared has been overseen by the Independent Commission for the Location of Victims' Remains (ICLVR) - an independent body set up during the peace process to find 16 victims secretly buried by republicans.

The ICLVR was on site for several months this year searching for the remains of former Cistercian monk Joe Lynskey when the two other bodies were found.

It is also only a few miles from where the body of Brendan Megraw was dug up last year following searches at Oristown, Co Meath.

The searches for Mr Lynskey have to date been unsuccessful.