Missing Achill man’s family make desperate plea

LETTER OF APPEAL Missing Achill man JP Grealis.

Missing Achill man’s family makes desperate plea to Dutch ambassador and Taoiseach


Anton McNulty
antonmcnulty@mayonews.ie

Tomorrow (Wednesday), the family of James Patrick (JP) Grealis will not be marking his 28th birthday the way they would like to: by his side. Instead, they will be submitting a letter of complaint to the Dutch Ambassador to Ireland over how the case of the missing Achill man has been handled by the Dutch Authorities.
A demonstration organised by the family will also take place outside Leinster House. The Grealises will call on An Taoiseach, Enda Kenny, and Minster for Foreign Affairs Éamon Gilmore to put pressure on their Dutch counterparts to progress the investigation.
James Patrick (JP) Grealis from Tonragee, Achill, disappeared without a trace after he left a guesthouse in the Dutch town of Breda to look for work on October 23, 2008. The Dutch police failed to investigate the disappearance and the Grealis family has fought a constant battle with the Dutch authorities to get case investigated.
Following a legal request last October, the Dutch authorities agreed to start an investigation into JP’s disappearance, but the family have expressed concern and disappointment with how the case has progressed.
Helen Grealis, JP’s sister, told The Mayo News that they believe the police are not investigating the case to the best of their ability. As a consequence, they will submit a letter of complaint to Dutch Ambassador, Mr Robert Engels, at the Dutch Embassy, tomorrow Wednesday, March 14, at 1pm.
“All we have been told is that [the case] is ongoing. We know that they have not contacted the witnesses who last saw JP or sought his bank records. These are vital to the case. What are they doing if they are not doing the basics first?” she asked.
After handing the letter of complaint to the Dutch Ambassador, the family and their supporters will march towards Leinster House, where they will present both Mr Kenny and Minister Gilmore with a copy of the same letter of complaint, urging them to apply pressure to the Dutch Government. All TDs will also receive a copy of the letter. The family will be supported tomorrow by ‘Searching for the Missing’, a volunteer support organisation.
“We had always planned a demonstration but we realised that his birthday was a significant day to do it. There was a feeling that we had to do something for him on his birthday. Hopefully it will bring us closer to finding him,” said Helen.

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