A monument to the country's missing people "speaks of a love without end", the President, Mrs McAleese, said yesterday. She was speaking at the unveiling of the sculpture in the grounds of Kilkenny Castle. The monument, made up of the handprints of relatives of missing people, was commissioned by the JoJo Dullard Memorial Trust.
The sculpture, by Ms Ann Mulrooney, was funded with an award from the National Millennium Committee. Ms Dullard has been missing since 11.30 p.m. on Thursday, November 9th, 1995, when she telephoned a friend from a phone box in Moone, Co. Kildare.
Family members of people who have disappeared without trace attended yesterday's ceremony, travelling from all over Ireland and from Britain and the United States.
The sculpture "reminds us graphically that for each person who disappears there is a family and indeed a whole community grieving without closure or the prospect of closure", Mrs McAleese said.
She welcomed news of the launch later this year of a helpline for the families of missing persons. The helpline will be operated by the Irish Association for Victim Support with funding from the Department of Justice. She also paid tribute to Ms Dullard's sister, Ms Mary Phelan, who was the driving force behind the erection of the monument.