Ex-IRA woman describes murder of McConville
FORMER IRA woman Dolours Price has described the abduction, murder and secret burial of Jean McConville in unprecedented detail in a new documentary.
‘I, Dolours’, which premiers this weekend at the Hot Docs festival in Toronto, features a video-recorded interview that journalist Ed Moloney conducted with her. It includes new revelations about the 1972 murder of the Belfast mother-of-10.
In previous interviews, Price confessed her role in driving Ms McConville across the Border and handing her over to a Dundalk IRA unit.
Price also repeats claims that the mother-of-10 was an informer and details an alleged incident in a west Belfast barracks where she identified IRA members to the security forces.
Ms McConville’s children last night dismissed Price’s claims their mother was an informer but said they did accept parts of Price’s testimony which were supported by other independent accounts. Price has previously alleged Gerry Adams ordered Ms McConville’s murder, a claim ex-Sinn Féin president has strongly denied.
Price was found dead at her home in Malahide, Co Dublin, in 2013 from a toxic prescription drugs mix. The 61-year-old was the former wife of actor Stephen Rea.
Price claims under IRA interrogation, Ms McConville confessed to becoming an informer “for money”. She says when she picked up Ms McConville, she wasn’t frightened for her life because she had been told by the IRA she wouldn’t be killed.
Price says the Dundalk IRA men had “a grave dug” but “couldn’t bring themselves to execute” Ms McConville “probably because she was a woman”.
So Price, Pat McClure, who died in the US in 1986, and a third member of the Unknowns took Ms McConville to the grave where she was “shot in the back of the head by one of the volunteers”. There was one pistol but Price indicated the trio all fired it separately so they took shared responsibility for the execution.
She admitted being haunted by her role in the deaths.