The body set up to find the remains of Northern Ireland’s Disappeared has carried out an exhumation at a cemetery in County Monaghan.

The Disappeared are those who were abducted, murdered and secretly buried by republicans in The Troubles in the 1970s and 1980s.

The Independent Commission for the Location of Victims’ Remains (ICLVR) said it received information about suspicious activity during the 1970s at a grave in Annyalla cemetery.

“Both the timeframe and the location coincide with the disappearance of Joe Lynskey in 1972,” an ICLVR statement said.

Joe Lynskey was abducted and murdered by the IRA in 1972.

The exhumation happened on Tuesday and it said the formal process to establish the identity of all of the remains found in the grave has begun.

“This process may take some time,” it added.

A former Cistercian monk from the Beechmount area of west Belfast, Mr Lynskey later joined the IRA.

Mr Lynskey went missing in 1972, and republicans have claimed he was “executed and buried” by the IRA.

The latest search for his remains was in 2018. It ended without success.

So far, the remains of 13 of the Disappeared have been recovered.

Annyalla is between Monaghan town and Castleblayney.