Record response to crime appeal

A RECORD number of people have responded to an appeal in relation to the deaths and disappearances of eight women.

Crimestoppers said hundreds of people have called its confidential phone line in the first 24 hours of its campaign.

Yvonne Hyland of Crimestoppers said: “There’s been a record amount of phone calls to date, the biggest for any single campaign we’ve had.”

The privately-funded body, which is operating the campaign in conjunction with the gardaí, is offering substantial cash rewards for assistance in solving the cases.

The appeal is highlighting the suspicious deaths of Antoinette Smith, Patricia Doherty and Marie Kilmartin and the disappearances of Claire Boylan, Ciara Breen, Josephine Dullard, Imelda Keenan and Annie McCarrick.

The appeal was launched on Wednesday with leaflet-distribution campaigns at seven different locations associated with the women.

“It was hectic here on Wednesday night. There have been hundreds of calls since the launch,” said Ms Hyland.

She said it could take a couple of weeks before gardaí could check each call.

“There is a feeling that if someone is going to make a confession-type phone call that will take a few days.

“If they have kept it to themselves for years they’re not going to ring on the first day of the campaign, but it could upset them enough to maybe make the calls in a few days.

“It’s not about jogging someone’s memory, it’s about getting someone who already has information and was unable to pass it on for whatever reason to start thinking about passing it on,” she added.

* The Crimestoppers anonymous freephone is 1800 25 00 25.