Brother of child missing since 1947 to address National Missing Persons Day event

James Malachy 'Jimmy' O’Neill's family kept the circumstances of his disappearance a secret due to 'fear of repercussions from a local garda'

Frank O'Neill (pictured) whose brother Jimmy is the longest missing child in Ireland. He will address the public for the first time since the annual National Missing Persons Day event began more than a decade ago. File photo: Patrick Browne

The only surviving brother of one of Ireland’s longest missing children will address this year’s annual National Missing Persons Day, as he seeks an official apology from gardaí over the disappearance nearly 80 years ago.

James Malachy “Jimmy” O’Neill went missing in December 1947, after he was wrongly accused of stealing a postal order from a local shipping company in Waterford.

The 16-year-old stowed away on a ship to Liverpool with the help of some family and friends, after a local garda blamed him for a missing postal order.

He was never seen again. His family kept the circumstances of his disappearance a secret due to “fear of repercussions from a local garda”.

Last year, Jimmy's brother Frank broke his silence to reveal the truth behind his brother’s disappearance, saying one detective in Waterford who is now deceased “tormented” his family over the missing postal order for years after Jimmy vanished.

On Wednesday, National Missing Persons Day will take place in the Royal Kilmainham Hospital in Dublin, where Mr O’Neill will address the public for the first time since the event began more than a decade ago.

Jimmy O'Neill who went missing on December  15, 1947, at the age of 16. Shortly after his disappearance, Jimmy wrote a note in pencil to his mother to say he had 'drowned' himself. File photo: Brian Lawless/PA

“We are told every year at this poignant event that the State is here for the families of missing people," Mr O’Neill told the Irish Examiner.

“I know the true suffering and hardship that comes when a person goes missing. My own family was destroyed, and my parents died of a broken heart.

Other families have said at recent events that the support is not there from the State. I stand over that firmly.

Shortly after his disappearance, Jimmy wrote a note in pencil to his mother to say he had “drowned” himself.

He told his mother not to make his supper for him, because he had taken his own life. He also asked her to tell his boss to find another message and that he was not a "robber".

The letter was taken for forensic analysis in February. However, nothing has come of it, according to Mr O'Neill.

There was no comment available from gardaí in relation to Mr O'Neill's claims.