Funeral of 'Disappeared' victim Seamus Ruddy to be held

A funeral will be held later for one of the "Disappeared" victims of the Northern Ireland Troubles more than 30 years after he was murdered and secretly buried by republican paramilitaries.

The remains of Seamus Ruddy, a 32-year-old teacher from Co Down, were found at Pont-de-l'Arche near Rouen in northern France last month.

Mr Ruddy was abducted in Paris then killed and buried by republican paramilitary group the INLA in 1985.

He will be reburied in his home town of Newry, Co Down after a service at St Catherine's Dominican Chapel in the city.

The Independent Commission for the Location of Victims' Remains (ICLVR) recovered Mr Ruddy's remains.

The ICLVR was set up during the peace process by the UK and Irish governments to find the bodies of those secretly buried, mainly by the IRA, in the 1970s and 1980s.

There had been a number of previous searches in the same forest area for Mr Ruddy.

The ICLVR acted on information from someone with knowledge of the crime who was free to come forward without fear of prosecution.

Three of the 16 Disappeared victims are still to be recovered.

The remains of Columba McVeigh, Joe Lynskey and Robert Nairac have yet to be found.