120 turn out to search for John Concannon

John Concannon with his son Edward when he was a baby.

The search was conducted across a large tract of west Inishowen including the whole of Inch Island.

John’s brother Michael Concannon said: “The Irish Coastguard helicopter was also out. There was a big stretch of land covered. There was nothing found but it is good to know that this has been done and well covered.”

Since he disappeared on November 10th, there have been reports of possible sightings of John in these areas.

Another of John’s brothers, Robert Concannon, said that their mother was originally from Burt and the area was identified early on as one of those they wished to search in case John, like many dementia sufferers, had returned to his childhood days when he might have heard stories about this area.

Speaking about the search on Sunday, Robert said: “It was a pretty intensive search and a great turnout. As well as the 120 people who turned up the Community Search & Rescue group was there as well and there were about 20 of them.

“There is new people turning up every week, all ages, all backgrounds, from both sides of the border. There has been a great response and the family can’t thank them enough.”

Robert said that the volunteers were sectioned up into 11 groups on Sunday. The groups were then transported by minibus to different drop-off points along the various roads into Inch and towards Buncrana, as well as to the area near Barr’s Quarry behind the Rock Bar.