The family of the Midleton schoolboy Robert Holohan yesterday marked the first anniversary of his death by expressing their gratitude to all who had helped in the search and later the investigation into their son's disappearance and death.
Mark and Majella Holohan expressed their sincere appreciation to the thousands of people who had supported them, in what had been a "horrific year", as they remembered Robert (11), who disappeared while playing near his home at Ballyedmond, Midleton, on January 4th last year.
The disappearance triggered one of the largest missing persons searches in the history of the State, with thousands of volunteers joining Garda, Army and Civil Defence personnel in combing land in east Cork last January.
"We would especially like to thank the thousands of people who came out and searched in all kinds of weather for our little boy," Mr and Mrs Holohan stated in an acknowledgment and anniversary notice published in yesterday's Irish Examiner.
The couple thanked the large number of voluntary organisations which had assisted with the search, including Midleton GAA Club, the Civil Defence, Red Cross, Irish Coast Guard and search-and-rescue teams from Ballycotton, Guileen, Youghal, Tramore, Wexford and Clare.
They also thanked Maurice and Clare Moloney, of the East Cork Golf Club, for making their premises available as a control centre for the search as well as all the businesses in the area which had offered assistance.
They paid particular thanks to the team of gardaí under Assistant Commissioner Tony Hickey and Det Supt John O'Mahony, along with local gardaí under Chief Supt Kieran McGann and Supt Liam Hayes.
The family expressed their gratitude to those involved in Robert's funeral Mass, including Father Billy O'Donovan, Bishop John Magee and Canon Bertie Troy, and also to Cork hurler Seán Óg Ó hAilpín and to Robert's friends who read prayers.
Robert's body was discovered on January 12th 2005 in a glen near Inch strand, about 12 miles from his home.
A neighbour of the Holohans, Wayne O'Donoghue (21), gave himself up to gardaí on January 16th last year and was subsequently charged with the manslaughter of Robert, and later with his murder, for which he was tried at the Central Criminal Court at a sitting in Cork last month.
O'Donoghue was found not guilty of Robert's murder by the jury, but he had already pleaded guilty to Robert's manslaughter and has been remanded in custody for sentence at a Central Criminal Court sitting in Ennis on January 24th.
Meanwhile, Mark and Majella Holohan and their two other children, Emma and Harry, will attend a memorial Mass for Robert at the Church of the Holy Rosary in Midleton next Sunday at noon.
