Ms Anne Morgan:

I thank the committee for asking me to come today. I am a sister of Seamus Ruddy. Seamus had been disappeared in France in 1985. We waited 32 years before we found out where he was. On 6 May 2017, I was in France and Seamus's body was found.

His remains were in a forest. We had been to the location on two previous occasions.

Since the forensic team was put in place in 2005, we had a more professional way of searching for the disappeared. When I came home after the 2008 search, when his body was not discovered, I knew that, in forensic terms, the team had done so much to try to find him. I came away content in one respect because I knew the team members had forensically searched for him, but to no avail. They were very close when they searched in 2008. They were only three feet or four feet away from him when they finished their search. The search in France lasted four days. We did not have a very long time to look for him because there were many technical issues in the context of the French authorities. On our last search in 2017, the whole team came over. All the men and excavators were there. We had a sniffer dog and as much forensic equipment as we needed to find him. On Saturday, 6 May 2017, he was found.

In one way, it is very bittersweet because you are celebrating the death of a person, which is very unusual, and also celebrating that he has been found. My heart goes out to the families who are still waiting because I know what it is like to get word that the remains had been found and he was on his way home. That is what happened. He returned to Ireland and was buried with my mother and father.

What is important is that while I was trying to get information, I spoke to men who were not directly involved in his killing but who were in the organisation that killed him, namely, the INLA. I contacted them directly, went to meetings with them, discussed what I knew about it and they told me what they knew. I found that aspect extremely beneficial. I could look straight into their eyes and say "Please help me". I knew then that those men would help me, and that is what they did. They put their heart and soul into it. That process went on for about two years. I met them here in Newry - out in the open in the lobby of a local hotel. It was not a private meeting or anything. That helped me an awful lot because I knew those men would try their best and that is what they did. Direct contact with those who may have been involved or who were around at the time or who knew people who were around at the time would bring this forward. Initially, there was a reluctance on the part of the people to whom I was talking to engage with the commission. If contact could be made through another type of intermediary so that people could talk to them, that could benefit the families.

It has been great to be able to go to the grave and know that he is in it. For the first few months after finding him, I used to go to the graveyard. I was very worried because I thought that someone would take him away. It sounds a bit daft, but I was under the illusion that I might lose him again. Having spent 32 years trying to find him, I did not want that to happen. I tried my best anyway. He is here and I am only getting used to that now. It is a slow process accepting that I have now found him. The work of the commission has helped me a million times over. Its cost does not even get close to the price you would put on what it does. I do not believe it has a price.

The Irish Government has stood by the families of the disappeared. It has looked after us. It is the one we should be congratulating and letting know that we have benefited. The other families that are still waiting will benefit from this. We just have to keep on asking for information. By coming to this committee, it means that we are keeping this part of the Good Friday Agreement alive. If possible, we will be with the committee again and, hopefully, we will have found the others. I thank the Chairman.