As the 40th anniversary of the abduction, torture and murder of Captain Robert Nairac GC (George Cross) approaches, Ulster Unionist MLA Doug Beattie MC (Military Cross), has called on Michelle O'Neill to use her position to appeal to republicans to bring closure to the families of the remaining ‘Disappeared.’
Doug Beattie MC MLA said:
“This weekend will mark the 40th anniversary of the abduction, torture and murder of Captain Robert Nairac GC by the Provisional IRA. His body now lies in an unmarked grave and denied a Christian burial.
"I would again ask Michelle O'Neill to use her position as the leader of Sinn Fein in Northern Ireland to appeal to former members of the Provisional IRA to demonstrate respect for the remains of Captain Nairac and his family by directing the Independent Commission for the Location of Victims' Remains to where they buried his body. Someone in the republican movement knows. Indeed some of those convicted in relation to the murder of Captain Nairac later went on to take up prominent positions in Sinn Fein. They may even continue to live close to the area in which Captain Nairac was abducted.
“The IRA continue to hide his body in some sort of macabre revenge just because he was a British soldier. He was a son and brother whose life was cruelly ended at the age of 28. It's time to bring this to an end.
"In the years since his murder the republican movement has engaged in a campaign to smear the reputation of a brave soldier who was defending the law abiding majority in Northern Ireland. You only have to read his citation for the George Cross to understand the bravery of Captain Nairac as he was brutalised by his IRA captors. It reads:
"On his fourth tour Captain Nairac was a Liaison Officer at Headquarters 3 Infantry Brigade. His task was connected with surveillance operations.
On the night of 14/15 May 1977 Captain Nairac was abducted from a village in South Armagh by at least seven men. Despite his fierce resistance he was overpowered and taken across the border into the nearby Republic of Ireland where he was subjected to a succession of exceptionally savage assaults in an attempt to extract information which would have put other lives and future operations at serious risk. These efforts to break Captain Nairac's will failed entirely. Weakened as he was in strength – though not in spirit – by the brutality, he yet made repeated and spirited attempts to escape, but on each occasion was eventually overpowered by the weight of the numbers against him. After several hours in the hands of his captors Captain Nairac was callously murdered by a gunman of the Provisional Irish Republican Army who had been summoned to the scene. His assassin subsequently said 'He never told us anything'.
Captain Nairac's exceptional courage and acts of the greatest heroism in circumstances of extreme peril showed devotion to duty and personal courage second to none."
“Other families also continue to suffer. Only this week we heard the family of Columba McVeigh – abducted in November 1975 - appeal again for information that would lead to the recovery of their loved one's remains.
"It would demonstrate respect for others if republicans could finally tell the truth about what they did and help bring some long overdue and much needed closure to the families of the Disappeared. Sinn Fein demand respect - it's time that they and the wider republican movement demonstrated respect to others.
“I make no apology for repeating what I have said previously. The families have suffered for a very long time and simply want to be able to give their loved ones a Christian burial. It is the very least they deserve.”