The Tánaiste has appealed for anyone with information on The Disappeared to come forward after DNA tests confirmed human remains exhumed from a grave in County Monaghan last November are not those of Joe Lynskey.

Mr Lynskey, from west Belfast, is one of a group of 17 people who were abducted, murdered and secretly buried during The Troubles.

Tánaiste Simon Harris paid tribute to Mr Lynskey’s family at what he called a "very difficult and painful time" and said any information can give these families "some element of closure after so many years".

The Independent Commission for the Location of Victims' Remains (ICLVR) said the remains recovered from the grave in the village of Annyalla also do not belong to any member of the family who own the plot.

Marie Lynskey holds a photograph of her uncle Joe Lynskey, one of the disappeared, during the 11th annual 'Silent Walk for the Disappeared' to remember victims of Northern Ireland's Troubles at Stormont, Belfast. Image: Alamy

The ICLVR further confirmed that the remains were not those of any of the three other Disappeared victims murdered and secretly buried by republican paramilitaries during the Troubles whom the commission continues to search for.

Gardaí are now attempting to identify the remains.

In a statement, a spokesman said: "An Garda Siochana has notified the local coroner, and An Garda Siochana has commenced enquiries to assist the local coroner to determine the correct identification of the remains exhumed on November 26 2024”.

The commission opened the grave in November last year after it received information related to "suspicious" historical activity during the 1970s at a grave in Annyalla cemetery.

Members from the Independent Commission for the Location of Victims' Remains, work at the scene in Coghalstown, Co Meath. Image: Alamy

As well as Mr Lynskey, the ICLVR is tasked with finding three other Disappeared victims: County Tyrone teenager Columba McVeigh, British Army Captain Robert Nairac and Seamus Maguire, who was in his mid-20s and from near Lurgan, County Armagh.

"In an effort to locate the remains of Joe Lynskey, one of the Disappeared who went missing in the summer of 1972, human remains were exhumed from a grave in Annyalla Cemetery, County Monaghan on 26 November 2024,” a statement from the commission said.

"The results of the DNA examination of the remains have now eliminated them as being those of the family to whom the grave belongs and now also eliminated them as being those of Joe Lynskey or any of the Disappeared.

"All the interested parties including the Lynskey family have been informed.”

Dympna Kerr (left), sister of Columba McVeigh, and Marie Lynskey, niece of Joe Lynskey, both who's remains are yet to be recovered, during the 11th annual 'Silent Walk for the Disappeared' to remember victims of Northern Ireland's Troubles at Stormont, Belfast. Image: Alamy

The ICLVR said it knows how “deeply disappointing” this news is for the Lynskey family.

"We know that this news is deeply disappointing for the Lynskey family and the thoughts of everyone in the commission are with them at this most difficult time,” the statement continued.

"We are also conscious that this was a distressing experience for the family whose grave was opened to facilitate the exhumation.

"We are grateful for their co-operation and support at all stages of the process.

"The commission will continue to do everything in its power to locate and recover the remains of all of the outstanding Disappeared cases.”

13 of the 17 Disappeared have been formally found by the ICLVR.

A wreath and photographs of the three “Disappeared” men whose remains are yet to be recovered, Columba McVeigh (left), Joe Lynskey (centre) and Robert Nairac, on the steps of Stormont, 02-11-2017. Image: Brian Lawless/PA Archive/PA Images