A reconstruction of the last known movements of missing 11-year-old Robert Holohan has been staged by gardaí in Co Cork, who have also asked a number of people who may hold "vital clues" to come forward.
A child resembling Robert cycled his bicycle from the family home at Ballyedmond in Midleton in a reconstruction of the missing boy's last known movements exactly a week ago today.
A large number of journalists gathered for the reconstruction, which will be shown on television this evening.
A Garda spokesman at the scene of the reconstruction appealed for anyone who may have information on Robert's disappearance or who may have seen him as he cycled from his home last Tuesday afternoon to come forward. He said the road outside the Holohan home was "busy enough" and that someone may have seen something.
The search, now a week old, is is ongoing today. Gardaí have appealed to white van owners who may have been in the area last Tuesday to come forward so that they can be eliminated from their inquiries.
Gardaí would also like to hear from a woman seen walking her labrador dog near Water Rock on the same evening.
They have also asked that anyone who was at the East Cork Golf Club and Driving Range last Tuesday between 11 a.m. and 6 p.m. to contact them if they have any information to offer.
Superintendent Liam Hayes of Midleton Garda station said today that gardaí were keen to speak to two men in the area at the time of Robert's disappearance who may hold "vital clues". One man seen in a field had not yet been accounted for, although he may have been doing something innocently, Supt Hayes said. He also appealed to a man seen getting into a red van in a nearby car park to come forward.
Army personnel are now using metal detectors to search fields in an effort to find anything relating to Robert's disappearance.
Robert Holohan. He wore this same sweater, underneath a tracksuit, on the day he vanished.
Yesterday gardaí released a new picture of the missing boy taken the night before he went missing from his home in the Midleton area last week.
The shirt he is wearing in the photograph (right) is the same shirt that he was wearing on the day he went missing, which he wore underneath a black jacket. He has not been seen since last Tuesday, January 4th.
A Garda sub-aqua team has been searching rivers and a lake in the search area and volunteers have been searching Castlemartyr Woods.
Anyone with information is asked to contact the gardaí at Midleton on 0210-4621550.
The mother of a young Dublin boy who went missing nearly 19 years ago and who has never been found today said she hoped the outcome would be a good one for the Holohan family.
Speaking on the Dublin radio station NewsTalk 106, Ms Alice Cairns, mother of 13-year-old Philip Cairns, told of her own family's experience when her child went missing on October 23rd 1986,
Philip was last seen when he left his home in Rathfarnham to return to school after lunch.
"He never arrived in school. It was the last we saw him," Ms Cairns said.
She added that it was family and friends who got her through the nightmare, who "put food on the table". "It's terrifying situation . . . you do get the strength to keep you going . . . but 18 years ago if you thought you had to go 18 days more, you'd be dead now."
Ms Cairns said she would like to convey her thoughts and prayers to the Holohan family and that "please God a good solution will come of it".