ONE of Cork City Missing Persons Search and Recovery’s longest-serving volunteers, Dinny Kiely, has been named Cork Person of the Month for July, acknowledging his volunteering efforts and commitment to the organisation.

The group is a not-for-profit, voluntary charity which conducts searches of land and water for missing persons. Mr Kiely has been volunteering with the organisation for 17 of its 18 years, devoting himself to the search and recovery efforts on behalf of families of the missing.

Having lost a family member himself, Mr Kiely was motivated to volunteer his time so that people have support in searching for missing loved ones.

“Cork City Missing Person Search and Recovery is a truly brilliant organisation, and I am very proud to be a part of it,” he said. “We have helped so many families over the last 18 years, and continue to do so with the support and funding from the people of Cork, who we really can’t thank enough.”

Founded 18 years ago, Cork City Missing Person Search and Recovery offers a free search and rescue service to the people of Cork.

They work in cooperation with Gardaí, the Coast Guard and family members and can be contacted through their website www.missing.ie, their Facebook page or the National Missing person helpline.

Commenting on Dinny’s recent accolade, awards organiser Manus O’Callaghan said, “Dinny’s selfless commitment to volunteering his services has helped so many families through trying times, and providing safety boat cover has made Cork’s waters a safer place for all.”

In addition to his volunteering with Cork City Missing Person Search and Recovery, Mr Kiely also provides safety boat cover for most of Cork’s major water-based events with his remaining free time.