National Missing Persons Day

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National Missing Persons Day is an all-Ireland day of commemoration that takes place on the first Wednesday in December each year. It provides an opportunity for family members and friends of missing persons to remember their loved ones and to appeal to the public for any information that might be of assistance to An Garda Síochána.

National Missing Persons Day complements the existing International Missing Children’s Day and has a number of objectives. It commemorates those who have gone missing and recognises the lasting trauma for their families and friends. It also draws attention to open or unsolved missing persons cases, and creates an opportunity to provide information on available support services.

On 4 December 2013, Ireland held its inaugural National Missing Persons Day with a commemorative ceremony which took place at Farmleigh House Dublin. The inaugural ceremony was attended by the families and friends of missing persons, as well as many of the organisations working in the community on their behalf. It incorporated musical and personal tributes and reflections, followed by a tree planting ceremony in the grounds of Farmleigh House. The event was also attended by the second level students of Davis College, Mallow, Co. Cork, who organised a campaign to raise awareness of missing persons issues and to call for a national Missing Persons Day.

National Missing Persons Day has since been developed into an annual campaign in partnership with the organisations working in this area.

Any queries in relation to National Missing Persons Day can be addressed to missingpersonsday@justice.ie

The Garda Missing Person Unit can be contacted at missing_persons@garda.ie or 01-6669476 .

The commemorative event took place in Croke Park on 7 December 2022. A live stream of the event was recorded and is available on Youtube .

Previous ceremonies can be viewed on our YouTube Channel.