Dark cloud hangs over Deirdre’s town where residents seek closure

A DARK cloud continued to hang over Newbridge as the talk of the town once again turned to tragic Deirdre Jacob, as it has on so many occasions over the past 20 years.

The trauma continues to resonate throughout the community, as people recalled the sudden disappearance of the 18-year-old girl.

Aoife Hurley has lived in Newbridge all of her life and said it was ‘still raw’.

“When it initially happened it put the fear into anybody walking on their own anywhere,” she said.

“Obviously it heightened fear in the town and it was very sad thing to think it happened in Newbridge.

“Back in 1998 there wasn’t a whole lot going on around here.

“The disappearance of Deirdre Jacob has always been something that’s been around the town, has always been something associated with Newbridge,” she said.

“Particularly when you link her in with all the other cases over the course of the ‘90s.

“There was a horrible air of familiarity.

“Deirdre was a student, she was a young girl, she’d have a lot of friends around the town who would fondly remember her and talk about her,” she added.

For some, yesterday’s announcement offered hope of closure.

Most of all, however, there was a solidarity with the family.

Local barber Joe Kelly said that Deirdre’s heartbroken parents would regularly have put up missing posters of their cherished daughter over the years.

“When you know the people themselves, every time you see them you’d remember,” he said.

“They’re two of the strongest people I know, the way they conduct their lives with what has gone on, credit to them,” he added.