Missing disabled man spotted in Paris

French police are confident a 42-year-old Dublin man, who disappeared in Paris four days ago, has been spotted, it emerged tonight.

Brendan Brady from Palmerstown, Dublin, who is physically disabled, was on holiday at Eurodisney with the RehabCare charity when he got separated from his group on Wednesday evening.

Chris Macey, a spokesman for the Dublin-based charity said the positive sighting was “great news” and said he was cautiously optimistic.

A local man told police he had seen Mr Brady in the Place Saint Augustin in central Paris at 7pm yesterday. The square is just 10 minutes walk from Auber train station which is on the main rail line from Eurodisney into Paris.

An immediate search of the popular tourist attraction failed to locate Mr Brady last week and a major operation, involving French police, Interpol, the Department of Justice and the Irish Embassy in Paris was launched.

Posters have been displayed throughout the French capital, alerts issued to the media and his description circulated throughout the Paris public transport network.

Mr Macey said the organisation was doing everything possible to ensure Mr Brady’s safe return.

“The RehabCare staff who were on the trip are obviously very upset about Mr Brady’s disappearance,” he said.

“They are extremely professional people who reacted immediately to this very difficult situation and did everything possible to locate him once they realised he was missing.”

He stressed that hundreds of RehabCare clients go on foreign trips each year and that all proper procedures were followed fully by the staff on the ground.

There were eight clients on the trip and two members of staff, a ratio well within recommended guidelines, he added.

A team of six senior RehabCare staff are in Paris to help in the search for Mr Brady, who suffers from scoliosis – a curvature of the spine, and has a speech impediment.

The Dublin-based charity is also in constant contact with the Brady family in Palmerstown to offer support.

French police opened a missing persons file.