Protest over CNN ‘disappeared’ show

By Patrick Markey

A CNN news report on the search for the bodies of IRA victims has caused a ripple of concern in Irish-American circles, with complaints about the timing and content of the story.

The 9-minute report, "The Disappeared: A Requim for the Irish Dead," was aired over the weekend and again Monday night. It included an interview with the family of one of the disappeared, Jean McConville, a mother of 10 who was abducted and killed by the IRA in December 1972. The segment was broadcast as part of the CNN and Time news program and was reported by London-based contributor Charles Glass.

Gardai have been searching several sites in the Irish Republic where the bodies of victims killed by the IRA are supposed to be buried. On Tuesday, they discovered human remains at one of the sites in County Monaghan after a month of digging.

Using an internet message site, the Republican Bulletin Board, a group of disgruntled Irish-American activists have been posting criticisms the CNN documentary and questioning the timing of a program of such a sensitive nature.

One of the organizers of the protest, Carrie Twomey in California, said that letters, e-mails and faxes of protest had been sent to CNN after the program initially aired on Sunday.

With the current crisis over decommissioning and growing concern over Drumcree marches in Portadown, Twomey said the program did not present the situtation in Northern Ireland in a balanced manner.

While the family interviewed had a right to be angry and anti-republican, the program did not address Sinn Fein’s concerns or put the issue of the disappeared in context, Twomey said.

A CNN spokeswoman did not return requests for comment before the Echo deadline on Tuesday.