Former IRA leader Ivor Bell charged in connection with McConville murder

Former IRA leader Ivor Bell charged in connection with McConville murder
The murder of mother-of-ten Jean McConville was one of the most controversial incidents during Northern Ireland's Troubles

A former IRA chief of staff will appear at a Belfast court on Saturday morning charged in connection with the murder of a mother of 10 in 1972.

Ivor Bell, 77, who was part of the IRA ceasefire negotiation team with the Tory government in the same year, will face charges relating to the abduction, murder and secret burial of widow Jean McConville. She became the most famous of the "Disappeared" – more than a dozen IRA victims buried secretly during the Troubles.

The late IRA Belfast commander and former hunger striker Brendan Hughes alleged before his death that Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams gave the order to bury Jean McConville in secret, a claim Adams has always denied.

Sources close to Bell claimed to the Guardian that he had no direct link to the McConville murder, one of the most controversial of the Northern Ireland Troubles.

http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2014/mar/21/former-ira-leader-ivor-bell-charged-connection-mcconville-murder


Jean McConville was abducted from her home in December 1972 by twelve IRA members, comprising both men and women, who brought her to an unknown location. There they killed her with a single bullet to the back of the head, allegedly making her kneel down before shooting her.[4] Among her abductors was Dolours Price, who has claimed that she did so on the orders of Gerry Adams.[5] Mrs McConville's body was buried secretly on a beach in County Louth, approximately 50 miles from her home. The IRA did not admit their involvement until over twenty years later, in 1999, when they passed information on the whereabouts of the body.[6] After a prolonged search, co-ordinated by the Garda Síochána – during which the search area and time involved was expanded by the Gardaí – the search was abandoned, as no body could be located in the area specified by the IRA.

On 27 August 2003, her body was accidentally found by members of the public while they were walking on Shelling Hill beach.[7] Jean McConville was then buried beside her husband Arthur in Holy Trinity graveyard, Lisburn, County Antrim

In the immediate aftermath of her death, Jean McConville's children were brought into local council care.[10]

Her children claim that McConville was killed for helping an injured British soldier. Some of her children recalled the incident, as did neighbours.[11][12] However an official investigation, indicated that, according to Police Ombudsman Nuala O'Loan: "Records show that the only terrorist attack on a soldier in the area around the time of Mrs McConville's abduction was on Private D who was shot in the thigh on December 15, 1972 – which was eight days after the abduction."[10] The IRA had always claimed that they had discovered she was passing information on local republicans to the security forces via a secret radio transmitter.[6] McConville's children reject this claim and have called on the IRA to clear her name. In April 2004 the inquest into McConville's death returned a verdict of unlawful killing.[13] In January 2005, Sinn Féin party chairman, Mitchel McLaughlin, claimed that the killing of Jean McConville was not a criminal act, given the context of the Troubles and of the belief that she had been a British spy.[14]

McLaughlin's claim prompted the Irish journalist Fintan O'Toole to write a rebuttal, arguing that the abduction and extrajudicial killing of Mrs McConville was clearly a "warcrime by all accepted national and international standards".

In July 2006, Police Ombudsman Nuala O'Loan stated after an investigation by her office that there is no evidence that Jean McConville had ever passed information on to the security forces.[10] O'Loan said she would give the family more details of the findings of her investigation in the near future and would make those details public.

O'Loan said it was not her normal role to confirm or deny the identity of people working as agents for the security services. "However, this situation is unique. Jean McConville left an orphaned family, the youngest of whom were six-year-old boys. The family have suffered extensively over the years, as we all know, and that suffering has only been made worse by allegations that their mother was an informant. As part of our investigation we have looked very extensively at all the intelligence available at the time. There is no evidence that Mrs. McConville gave information to the police, the military or the security service."[16]

In August 2006, Northern Ireland's chief constable Sir Hugh Orde said he is not hopeful anyone will be brought to account over the murder, saying that "[in] any case of that age, it is highly unlikely that a successful prosecution could be mounted."[17]

Despite the pessimistic statement, new evidence has emerged since then. A 2010 book included an account by Brendan Hughes, and Irish news reports around the same time included testimony from former IRA member Dolours Price. In addition, Boston College has been recording statements from people involved in the Troubles as part of an oral history project.[18] Acting on a request of the Police Service of Northern Ireland, the United States Justice Department has tried to force Boston College to turn over recordings, especially those of Price. This legal dispute has launched a debate about journalistic freedom, as Boston College promised those interviewed that the tapes would not be released until after the person had died. Other former IRA members voiced a fear of retribution if the tapes were released. The legal proceedings are ongoing.[18] Price died in January 2013.[19]

Ivor Bell, former IRA Chief of Staff, was arrested by the Police Service of Northern Ireland on 18 March 2014 for questioning in relation to the abduction and murder of McConville.[20]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_Jean_McConville


I remember this case and the horror of it. It's amazing that it is still ongoing after 42 years.