An icy wind blew up Ballyedmond Hill yesterday, but it didn't deter the young Cork boy chosen to re-create Robert Holohan's last known movements as he patiently followed Garda directions for the assembled camera crews.
The 12-year-old, picked because he is the same height as 11-year-old Robert and has the same blond hair, rode a silver BMX bike like that which Robert got for Christmas around the roads of Ballyedmond.
"Cycle out this way and don't stop on the ramp," said Supt Liam Hayes as gardaí tried to re-create Robert's spins around the driveway of the family's two-storey house yesterday afternoon , which was exactly a week after his disappearance.
Clad in the same Nike top with orange lettering and the Midleton GAA tracksuit bottoms with two white stripes and Nike runners, the young Cork city boy must have been a difficult sight for Robert's parents at their home.
Out on to the road, Robert's lookalike rode the gleaming silver bike, first to his next door neighbours, the O'Donoghues, where Robert called but left after discovering his pals weren't there and then into Hartes where he rang the doorbell but got no answer.
After that Robert's lookalike rode down to Tullys, where Robert had also called looking for friends only to discover that they were out, when he spoke to Liam Tully, who watched him ride back out on to the road, the last confirmed sighting.
Throughout yesterday's reconstruction, the Cork city boy's mother watched, shivering against the cold but more than willing to endure it as she echoed what has been a near-constant refrain of empathy, not just in Midleton, but throughout Cork the past week.
"It must be awful for the poor parents. We felt coming down here for the reconstruction was the least we could do, and hopefully it will jog people's memories and result in someone coming forward with new information."
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