Holohan family may move from Midleton home

THE family of schoolboy Robert Holohan whose killer is to be sentenced next week may be about to move from their home near Midleton in east Cork.

Their house at Ballyedmond, a few miles from the town, is less than a hundred yards from that of his killer Wayne O’Donoghue, where the 11-year-old died in January last year.

O’Donoghue will find out the sentence for his crime when the Central Criminal Court sits in Ennis on Tuesday, January 24.

He was found not guilty of murder but guilty of his young neighbour’s manslaughter by a jury at the Central Criminal Court sitting in Cork last month.

The trial heard that the 21-year-old admitted to gardaí to having put his arm around Robert’s neck outside the O’Donoghue home.

It is believed that Robert’s parents Mark and Majella have taken the decision to leave Ballyedmond, although they may stay in the Midleton area.

Their two other children, nine-year-old Emma and six-year-old Harry, go to local schools and the family has many friends in the area.

The family moved to the bungalow, which sits on around two acres of gardens, in 1997.

The Holohan family was supported by hundreds of relatives, friends, well wishers, many of those involved in the search for Robert, as well as the gardaí who investigated his disappearance and death, at a Mass in Midleton to mark the anniversary of their son’s death eight days ago.

The O’Donoghue family home has been vacant for most of the past year, since 21-year-old Wayne was arrested by gardaí investigating Robert Holohan’s death a year ago today.

His parents, Ray and Therese O’Donoghue, and their two younger sons have been living in rented accommodation in east Cork during that time.

The body of the 11-year-old schoolboy had been found on January 12 last year at Inch Strand, following a week-long search for him since disappearing from his home on January 4, 2005.