FIVE YEARS after he first went missing, the whereabouts of Tullow tot Michael Lyons remain a mystery. There have been no reported sighting of the missing child, who would now be about seven and a half years of age, and nobody seems to be looking very hard for him. There has been no international hue and cry over his disappearance like there was in the case of young Madeline McCann.
Tullow gardaí say the boy is being “actively sought” by gardaí in Ireland and police in Britain. However, Michael’s step-sister Bridge Lyons believes that not enough has been done to track down the “little brother I long to see”.
“I haven’t seen or heard from Michael since the day he went missing,” says 35-year old Bridget. She believes that a lot more could have been done on the day Michael went missing.
“The guards and the health board could have done a whole lot more to try to find Michael. It is hard to believe that after five years there have been no sightings of him anywhere,” she adds.
The boy, who was two years’ old when he was reported missing by the South Eastern Health Board (now known as the HSE) on 12 July 2004, was allegedly handed over by his mother, Nora Lyons, to a couple believed to be members of the travelling community, who may have taken the child to Britain.
The handover allegedly took place at the bridge in Tullow on 13 July and since then, despite an extensive hunt by gardaí, the health services and Interpol, there have been no reported sightings of the missing child in Ireland or Britain.
The boy’s mother, who has failed to co-operate with gardaí, the health services and the courts in relation to providing information on the whereabouts of her missing child, was sentenced to two months in prison in 2004 after she continually failed to co-operate with the court.
The alarm was raised on 13 July 2004 by the health services after they had been granted a care order the previous day to take custody of four of Nora Lyons’ children, including her son Michael.
While three of the children were handed over to the health services by Nora Lyons, the whereabouts of the young Michael remain a mystery to this day.
According to Sgt Peter McConnon of Tullow Garda Station, it is not known whether Michael Lyons was technically in the custody of the South Eastern Area Health Board or his mother at the time of his disappearance.
Sgt McConnon is also of the belief that someone associated with Nora Lyons knows the whereabouts of the child.
Sgt McConnon says he is unsure if the couple who are alleged to have taken custody of the Tullow toddler have been tracked down and interviewed by police in Britain. “Various locations have been checked out both here and in Britain but at this point in time there have been no reported sightings of Michael. However, I do believe that someone out there knows where this child is living,” Sgt McConnon told The Nationalist.
The file on the missing child is still “very much open”, according to Sgt McConnon. “This is not going to go away until the child is found. Someone out there knows where he is and that is why we are keeping our files open,” he says.
Bridget is now appealing to members of the public to help her track down her young step-brother. “If anyone out there knows anything about Michael, I would love to hear from them,” says Bridget. When contacted by The Nationalist, the HSE issued the following statement:
“The HSE continues to urge members of the public to give every assistance to An Garda Síochána, in their continued investigations of a missing person case involving a child from Co Carlow. Contact between the HSE’s social services and An Gárda Siochána continues on this case.”