FAMILIES of the people abducted and killed by paramilitary groups in the north have held their annual walk at Stormont to raise awareness for those whose remains have yet to be found.
The 17th annual All Souls Silent Walk for the Disappeared was held on Thursday, with participants walking from Carson's statue to the steps of Parliament Buildings to lay a black wreath with five white lilies, representing the five individuals yet to be found, including Co Tyrone teen Columba McVeigh, who is the focus of an ongoing search in Co Monaghan.
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The others are west Belfast man Joe Lynskey, who was abducted by the IRA in 1972; British army captain Robert Nairac, abducted by the IRA in south Armagh in 1977; Seamus Maguire, who is thought to have been killed by republicans after being abducted from Lurgan in 1973 or 1974; and Lisa Dorrian, whose disappearance in 2005 from Ballyhalbert, Co Down has been linked to loyalist paramilitaries.
The families were joined by actor James Nesbitt, who said: "It's a day of contemplation, it's a day of celebration in a way for those families that have been lucky enough in the past to have been able to locate their loved ones' remains, but it's really about the five remaining families who are just desperate now."
He added: "I have spent a lot of time with these families, their stories must not be forgotten."
Also attending the walk was representatives of the Independent Commission for the Location of Victims Remains (ICLVR), which leads searches for those who disappeared before 1998, and WAVE Trauma Centre, which supports all families of those who remain missing.
WAVE CEO Dr Sandra Peake said: “This is an important and highly symbolic event for the families and that is why, despite advancing years and in some cases serious illness, so many make the effort to join together in mutual support and solidarity."
She added: "This is a particularly difficult time for the McVeigh family as the search for Columba at Bragan Bog draws to a close. The thoughts and prayers of the other families will be with them today as they will be with the Lynskey, Nairac, Maguire and Dorrian families”.
