February 17, 2011
By Staff Reporter
Ciaran Cassidy, who is 22, has been missing since he left his home to board a train in central London last Thursday morning.
Though he was born in England his two parents are from Ireland and he holds an Irish passport. He lives there with his parents and his sister Lisa.
Cassidy’s father Sean is from Swanlinbar in County Cavan and his mother is from Enniskillen, Co. Fermanagh. They say they have given up hope of finding him alive.
“I believe he is gone,” said Sean Cassidy in an interview. He recalled how he first realized that Ciaran may have been on one of the trains that came under attack.
“Someone said there had been a bomb on the train and there was 30 people dead. So I said: ‘My son travels on that train’ and I just took out my phone and rang his mobile number and it wasn’t working.
“I didn’t think anything of it because I thought he might have his phone off at work,” he said.
“His boss rang and said he hadn’t been at work and then alarm bells started. We could do nothing at this stage, all you could do was sit down and think about it. At that stage we were still hopeful.”
He said that he felt the authorities were concentrating more on the anti-terrorist operation than helping families to locate and identify relatives.
“We got no word from the authorities whatsoever until Sunday when the Liaison Officer came around,” he said.
“All he wanted was details of Ciaran for identification purposes only. We have heard no word from the police or from anybody since he left Thursday morning. We’ve heard absolutely nothing.”
The plight of his family mirrors that of scores of others who still await official confirmation about loved ones.
A card left outside Kings Cross Station and bearing Ciaran’s picture read: “I can only hope and pray for a miracle at this time.”
Another Irishman is meanwhile recovering in hospital from injuries sustained in the attacks. Willie John Walsh, who is 24, from Moycullen, Co. Galway, underwent surgery for head and arm injuries.
He had been traveling by tube train to Aldgate station when a bomb exploded only feet away from him.