Missing woman’s family ‘overjoyed’ at excavation

THE family of a woman who went missing from a Dublin hospital more than 30 years ago are overjoyed at a decision by a coroner to direct further excavation work to be carried out in the vicinity of a trench which was filled in the morning after she disappeared.

Alice Clifford, 57, Cremona Road, Ballyfermot, Dublin, went missing from St Loman’s Hospital in west Dublin on November 28, 1979.

Ms Clifford, who had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, was never found.

The Dublin County Coroner Dr Kieran Geraghty adjourned an inquest into Ms Clifford’s death following evidence from two individuals, retired electrician John Fitzpatrick and the then assistant director of nursing, Tom Kelleher, which suggested a trench, which was recently excavated by gardaí in a search for Ms Clifford’s remains, extended beyond the area excavated.

Gardaí carried out excavation work at a site at the rear of the hospital last week after receiving information from Mr Fitzpatrick in August about a trench which was filled in at St Loman’s Hospital on the morning after Ms Clifford went missing.

No remains were found.

The coroner said he was adjourning the inquest to allow further excavations to take place.

Speaking after the inquest Ms Clifford’s daughter, Pat O’Reilly, who was accompanied by two sisters and two brothers, said they were “over the moon” at the coroner’s decision.

“I feel very shaken after this. We thought this was going to be over today and we still have one more shot,” said Ms O’Reilly who described her mother as a hard-working woman who always put her children first.

“We are hopeful. We just want to lay her to rest,” she said.

She said they were angry they were not told about the trench at the time and called on anyone with any further information to come forward to gardaí.

Giving evidence at an inquest, Mr Fitzpatrick said he asked the driver of the JCB who filled in the trench if he checked it before he filled it in and he told him he did not.

Dublin County Coroner’s Court heard that on the day of her disappearance, Ms Clifford, who was in the hospital for two weeks’ respite care and who was due to return home in two days, attended occupational therapy and never returned to the ward.

She was reported missing and staff searched the hospital and its grounds.

Mr Kelleher said the trench in question would have been searched at the time, but he could not say for certain.

As part of the search in 1979, her son Jimmy Porter received permission to excavate an area at the front of the hospital after the family noted the presence of topsoil.

The family are unhappy with the assistance given to them by gardaí at the time of their mother’s disappearance, the inquest heard.