THE file in Cork on three missing people in 1994 was reopened last night following the discovery of what appear to be human remains in a shallow mound in Lotabeg in the city, close to where gardai conducted an extensive search for the three men last year.
The three who disappeared from Wellington Terrace were Mr Kevin Ball (42), from Wales and Mr Cathal O'Brien (24), from Wexford - both of whom disappeared from their apartment in April 1994 - and Mr Patrick O'Driscoll, also known as "Patch" O'Driscoll, who disappeared that December.
The three were linked by the fact that they knew each other that each was on social security and disappeared without trace from Cork without claiming their entitlements, and that at various times they had shared the same address at Wellington Terrace.
At 4.30 p.m. yesterday, a man walking his dog in the wooded Lotabeg area of Glanmire in the eastern suburbs of Cork came across a shallow mound which aroused his dog's curiosity. It is understood that the dog unearthed what appeared to be human remains, and gardai were notified immediately.
A Garda team arrived at the scene shortly and Lotabeg was sealed off.
Last night gardai remained at the scene, awaiting the arrival of personnel from the office of The State Pathologist. A spokesman at the Garda Press Office in Dublin confirmed what appeared to be human remains had been found but said that until a pathological examination had been carried out, no definite conclusion could be drawn.
The disappearance in Cork of the three men involved local gardai in one of the biggest hunts in the history of the city.
Public appeals were issued for information on the whereabouts of the three, and in the case of Cathal O'Brien and Patrick O'Driscoll the families appealed for information.
The O'Driscoll family said they felt sure that Patrick had died in mysterious circumstances, but in Wexford, the O'Brien family said they believed that Cathal, who had been a voluntary worker with the Simon Community in Cork, would never have got into trouble, and that he had probably gone to England with Mr Ball, who was interested in the News Age traveller movement.
During that intensive Garda investigation, the disappearance of a fourth man, Mr Blackie McCarthy, from Cork before the disappearance of the three men was also investigated, but Garda sources said they believed the disappearances of Mr Ball, Mr O'Brien and Mr O'Driscoll were directly connected.
The mystery of the three men who dropped out of sight without trace in a relatively small city remains one of the greatest enigmas on Garda files in Cork and is compounded by the fact that they knew each other so well and were linked by so many factors.