Posted by Information appeals have also been renewed
THE brother of Ireland’s longest missing person has demanded an apology from the country’s top cop for the way his sibling’s case was handled in 1947.
Frank O’Neill was among dozens of heartbroken families who attended National Missing Person’s Day in the Royal Kilmainham Hospital, Dublin.
The event, hosted by Mary Kennedy, also saw Justice Minister Jim O’Callaghan and Garda Commissioner Justin Kelly take the stand to pay tribute to those missing and reassure their families they will be found.
Frank O’Neill’s brother James “Jimmy” O’Neill went missing from their Waterford home aged 16 in December 1947, after he was wrongly accused of stealing a postal order from a local shipping company in Waterford.
The 16-year-old stowed away on a ship to Liverpool with the help of some family and friends, after a local garda blamed him for a missing postal order.
He was never seen again. His family kept the circumstances of his disappearance a secret due to “fear of repercussions from a local garda”.
Frank said the ordeal took a toll on his parent’s health and his own life.
He told the ceremony: “It was the start of a downhill turn for my parent’s health.
“My own life was very lonely and extremely sad because of not knowing where Jimmy was.
“The night after my mother died another patient in the hospital told me she was crying for Jimmy all night.
FAMILIES’ ANSWERS HOPE
“I would like to make it known that I’m seeking an apology from the State and from the garda commissioner.
“I have nothing against the guards, but when I reflect on my youth, it’s harrowing.”
Joe Maughan’s son Willie, 34, and pregnant girlfriend Anna Varslavane, 21, disappeared in 2015.
Gardai believe the couple were murdered by evil mob boss Cornelius Price at his compound in Co Meath on April 14, 2015 and buried elsewhere.
Joe told us: “They were murdered, everybody knows who did it.
“No updates yet. It’s official, the day they went missing they were murdered.
“Life has to go on but life is tough, for me and my family, thinking about what happened to them and how it happened.
“We’ve got no justice yet but we hope it will come in the future, please God.
“It’s sad at this time of year, it’s sad for every family that has someone missing, and William and Anna, it’s like a shadow over us.
“My oldest son Michael Bobby, we didn’t get over him, and then we were hit with this.
“God took Michael on us, but the devil took William.
“The guards are doing all they can for us, and I’ve no doubt they’ll do a lot more, and hopefully someone might help them out, because everybody needs help.
“I’m hoping that before I leave this world, that I find my son and I can bury them with a Christian burial.”
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