Family of Seamus Wright respond to BBC/RTÉ programme ‘The Disappeared’

‘I would call on anyone else with genuine information that might help locate the remains of any of those whose bodies have not yet been recovered to pass that information to the ICLVR through whatever conduit they choose’

IN RESPONSE to the recent BBC/RTÉ programme concerning those people shot and secretly buried by the IRA, Breige Wright, the sister of Belfast man Seamus Wright – in a letter to An Phoblacht – wishes to clarify a number of points.

These particularly concern interventions and accusations attributed to Dolours Price and Brendan Hughes.

My brother, Seamus Wright

By Breige Wright

MY BROTHER, Seamus Wright, an IRA Volunteer, was killed and secretly buried by the IRA in 1972.

They have said why they killed him. They have identified the location where they buried his body.

In 2010, for the first time, my family made a public intervention following comments by Dolours Price in relation to the disappearance and death of our brother Seamus.

At that time we challenged her to either bring forward information that could help recover Seamus’s remains or to stop using his death in pursuit of her own political agenda. We asked her to engage with the Independent Commission for the Location of Victims Remains (ICLVR).

Contrary to what some media reports have said, she did not engage with the ICLVR.

Others, including Brendan Hughes, sought to use Seamus’s death and the circumstances surrounding it in a similar fashion.

None of these people brought forward any information that has been of help in the search for Seamus’s remains.

Following Seamus’s disappearance there were many rumours and stories. Some suggested that he had gone into hiding with those who had recruited him as their agent – British Military Intelligence; others suggested that he had been killed and buried by the IRA.

In 1999, the IRA publicly accepted its responsibility for killing Seamus.

My family has grieved as any other family. Our loss is no greater or no less than anyone else’s.

I have met with the ICLVR. I have met with republicans. I accept the difficulties outlined by the ICLVR and by republicans. These include: the deaths of some of those directly involved in the actual event; the impact of time on people’s memories; major physical changes at the site; and the hostility of some, who might have information, to those republicans trying to bring closure. All of these points are a matter of public record.

I know there is a strong concern that previous digging at the site might have disturbed the grave and the remains.

Mr Geoff Knupfer of the ICLVR has recently acknowledged this in relation to another site (The Irish Times, 1 October 2013).

Only the small number of people involved in the killing and burial of my brother have information that might help. Everything else is speculation and rumour. I am satisfied that information has been passed onto the ICLVR in good faith.

I ask those who have genuinely engaged with the ICLVR to continue to do so. I would call on anyone else with genuine information that might help locate the remains of any of those whose bodies have not yet been recovered to pass that information to the ICLVR through whatever conduit they choose.

I would like to thank all of those who have been trying to help our family achieve closure: Gerry Adams, Fr Alex Reid, Fr Brendan O’Callaghan, the ICLVR, Geoff Knupfer and his team, and others who have been working quietly over the past 14 years.

All we as a family want is to be able to bury our brother’s remains beside our father, mother and sister.