Ms Anne Morgan:

What Senator McGahon just said is exactly the way it has been. It has been the families standing alone. We had WAVE behind us alright but it has been the resilience of the families standing alone and making it known that their loved one has been disappeared and buried secretly somewhere. The Senator brought up the idea of the isolation you feel when somebody in your family has been disappeared.

Communities and neighbours want to isolate you. No one wants to speak about it. Over time, you know the person you are looking for has died but no one commiserates with you. It is not the same as when a person dies and is buried within three or four days. People just do not talk about it. In my case, it was only when my brother was found that the community stood with me. For 32 years, they all stood silently somewhere away from me. It was only my close friends and family who were close to me. The community was away from me.

When Seamus was found, the local bishop at the time, Bishop McAreavey, said the town had let out a big sigh of relief that Seamus was found. That was the way it was. When Seamus was buried, it was a big occasion and a big day for the people to come out and give us support. However, we did not get that support in the years before Seamus was found. People were reluctant to openly show they were supporting us. When you are going through it, you do not realise it is happening and you are being ostracised. Nobody wants to speak about your loved one being murdered and secretly buried. No one wants to take notice of it. It is good that we are able to speak about it before this committee and to let members know that the families are still together. During our campaign, if we lost family from our local areas, we gained a very big and enriching family within the WAVE organisation. The Senator made a point about the families being on their own and that is exactly the way it is.