Search for remains of British army officer killed by IRA

A search is to begin for the remains of a British army captain and undercover officer who was kidnapped, murdered and secretly buried by the IRA in 1977.

- Shane Harrison

Capt Robert Nairac was kidnapped by the IRA while on an undercover operation in the Three Steps pub in Dromintee in south Armagh, close to the border. After a struggle he was taken across the border to a field in the Ravensdale woods area in north Louth, where he was beaten and questioned before being murdered.

His body has never been found and the Grenadier Guard is considered to be one of 17 people, known as the "disappeared", who were killed and secretly buried by the republican paramilitary group during Northern Ireland's Troubles.

In 2019, a preliminary examination of a site at Ravensdale forest in County Louth was carried out.

The Independent Commission for the Location of Victims' Remains (ICLVR), which has located the remains of a number of the disappeared, said this would be its first search for Nairac. It is to take place in the Faughart area of County Louth. Jon Hill, the lead investigator of the ICLVR, said: "We believe that we do now have sufficient credible information to warrant a search."