Case of missing Dundalk teenager Ciara Breen to feature on new TG4 documentary

It's the first episode of Ar Iarraidh (The Missing) a new four-part documentary series by Midas Productions, which tells the stories of those missing through the eyes of their family and friends.

The programme shows the heartbreak which Ciara’s family have suffered since she climbed out the window of the Bachelor's Walk home which she shared with her mother Bernadette, never to be seen again.

Poignantly it includes previously recorded footage of Bernadette appealing to anyone with information about her much-loved daughter to come forward so that she could bury her.

Bernadette died on January 28 2018 without having a grave at which to lay flowers for her daughter.

Ciara's uncle James Coburn and her cousin Sarah speak about how the seventeen year old’s disappearance cast a shadow over the whole family and how for years they had hoped that Ciara would turn up.

The programme details how a local man became the main suspect after there were concerns raised regarding the relationship he had with Ciara. Even with these concerns, there wasn’t enough evidence to make an arrest at that time.

There had been hopes of a break through, when a major search of Balmer’s Bog was carried out in 2015, when a new lead detective, Pat Marry, began investigating Ciara’s case.

Now retired, Mr Marry details the huge effort which went into the search of the bog where Ciara was last seen and outlined his disappointment that they were unable to recover her body.

On the night she disappeared, it was suspected that Ciara had been wearing a floral dress, so there was great hope when a dress matching that description was unearthed in the bog. The dress was photographed and placed in evidence. The investigators were hopeful that Ciara’s mother could identify this as her daughter's dress, although Bernadette could not confirm that it was.

Although the chief suspect was arrested, he was never charged. He died of a suspected overdose in July 2017 after he was arrested on suspicion of drunk driving, leaving Bernadette devastated.

"We did try our best,” Mr Marry says.

Bernadette had made a final appeal for anyone with information about what happened to her only child to come forward.

“I just want to be able to say goodbye properly,” she begged, recalling Ciara as “a funny, lovely, kind loving girl”.

Having been diagnosed with cancer the day after Ciara’s disappearance, Bernadette had lived in the hope of discovering the truth about what happened to her daughter. Sadly she died on June 28 2018 without ever knowing.

The programme also features interviews with Ciara's former teacher Rosaline Fearon, former journalist Anne Campbell, and Alan Byrne of Dundalk FM, who worked with Bernadette and journalist Siún Ní Dhuinn.

Anyone who has any information about Ciaran is asked to please contact the National Missing Persons Helpline on 1800 442 552 or at office@nmph.ie