DNA results from recently exhumed remains from a grave in Co Monaghan have proven that it was not one  of the so-called 'disappeared'.

A family plot beside Urbleshanny Church, near Scotstown, was opened in June after a tip-off from a priest that there may have been a secret burial in the grave.

Relatives of Columba McVeigh had hoped the latest dig would bring an end to their near 36-year search for answers over his killing and disappearance.

It was believed the search could be for the remains of Columba McVeigh, a teenager who was kidnapped and killed by the IRA in October 1975.

Mr McVeigh was from Donaghmore in Co Tyrone, Northern Ireland. He was abducted and murdered by the IRA in Dublin in October 1975. Despite extensive searches in Co Monaghan, his remains have yet to be found. His mother had campaigned tirelessly on her son's case before her death in 2007.

However, in a statement Frank Murray and Ken Bloomfield, Commissioners of The Independent Commission for the Location of Victims Remains, said the remains recovered from the grave are not related to any of the 'disappeared'.

The remains removed will be re-interred in due course.

The commission was set up to try and recover the remains of 16 people who were kidnapped and killed by the IRA or the INLA and whose bodies were then buried in secret.

Nine bodies have so far been recovered.  One of the dead, Eugene Simons, was found in 1984, three years after his murder, while eight others have been recovered since the commission was set up in 1999.

The last body of the 'disappeared' to be successfully found was that of Peter Wilson. His remains were found last November at Waterfoot beach, Co Antrim.

DNA results from recently exhumed remains from a grave in Co Monaghan have proven that it was not one  of the so-called 'disappeared'.

A family plot beside Urbleshanny Church, near Scotstown, was opened in June after a tip-off from a priest that there may have been a secret burial in the grave.

Relatives of Columba McVeigh had hoped the latest dig would bring an end to their near 36-year search for answers over his killing and disappearance.

It was believed the search could be for the remains of Columba McVeigh, a teenager who was kidnapped and killed by the IRA in October 1975.

Mr McVeigh was from Donaghmore in Co Tyrone, Northern Ireland. He was abducted and murdered by the IRA in Dublin in October 1975. Despite extensive searches in Co Monaghan, his remains have yet to be found. His mother had campaigned tirelessly on her son's case before her death in 2007.

However, in a statement Frank Murray and Ken Bloomfield, Commissioners of The Independent Commission for the Location of Victims Remains, said the remains recovered from the grave are not related to any of the 'disappeared'.

The remains removed will be re-interred in due course.

The commission was set up to try and recover the remains of 16 people who were kidnapped and killed by the IRA or the INLA and whose bodies were then buried in secret.

Nine bodies have so far been recovered.  One of the dead, Eugene Simons, was found in 1984, three years after his murder, while eight others have been recovered since the commission was set up in 1999.

The last body of the 'disappeared' to be successfully found was that of Peter Wilson. His remains were found last November at Waterfoot beach, Co Antrim.