The father of missing man Trevor Deely has said he hopes the appointment of Garda Commissioner Nóirín O'Sullivan will bring a new impetus to the force's search for missing persons.
Michael Deely was speaking as his Co Kildare family prepare to mark the 14th anniversary on Monday, December 8th, of the disappearance of his son in Dublin city centre.
The bank employee had attended a Christmas party and went back to his office to get an umbrella before heading in the direction of home on December 8th, 2000. The last sighting of him was at 4.15am, when CCTV footage showed him crossing Baggot Street Bridge and heading towards Haddington Road. He would be 36 now.
Mr Deely said he hoped Ms O’Sullivan would ensure that all new Garda recruits received detailed information and photographs about the missing persons in their region. He also called for more interaction between the Garda’s missing persons bureau and the families of missing persons.
He said the cold case unit should review all missing persons' cases every few years but it was crucial that different investigators were used each time to ensure that nothing was overlooked. Mr Deely also said that social media sites such as Facebook should be tracked by investigators as some people had posted very detailed information about certain missing persons' cases. "I am hopeful that the new Garda Commissioner and the new Minister for Justice [Frances Fitzgerald] will really take on this issue," he said.
There has been no new information about his son’s case for many years, but Mr Deely said the family would not give up in their search for Trevor. “Just after he went missing, the detective working on the case told me not to give up hope. I’m sure he didn’t think I would be talking about not giving up hope 14 years later,” he said.
