Over thirty years ago, a mother of seven living in Carna, Connemara, went missing from her family home and the mystery of her disappearance has never been solved.

Prime Time reporter Barry Cummins spoke with Mary Wilson about the cold case, in which to this day her children have no answers as to what happened to their mother Barbara Walsh.

Barry spoke of the pain that the family have endured in the past thirty years and why they believe someone must have critical information to help the case.

Barbara was last seen by her then fourteen-year-old daughter Jackie. On the night of June 21st, 1985, the family had enjoyed a get together in a local pub for relations who had come home from America and Australia. The family and neighbours were then invited back to the Walsh’s home where they continued celebrating. Barbara’s daughter Jackie came down the stairs at four in the morning, to find everyone had left and her mother on the couch. She put a blanket over her mother and went back to bed. Barbara has not been seen since.

Jackie believed something happened to her mother, not in the house but somewhere else.

‘She must have left willingly because the kitchen was still the same…there’s no evidence that someone came into the house and dragged her out or anything like that. I think something must have happened to her. There’s no way she would have walked out’

At the time of her disappearance, there was very little publicity about it. People at the time seemed to think that Barbara Walsh had decided to go away, so there wasn't enough of an alarm raised. Barry believes there's an education in this story.

'It's still not logical that she walked out if she did walk out, leaving her family behind. ………there was investigating and searching but the family would say there was not enough done then, certainly, there's a full reinvestigation going on now'

More statements have been taken, seventy written statements in recent years as part of this investigation and so it is hoped, some new information will be unearthed.

Barry has spent numerous weeks in the Carna area and concluded that 'You can certainly see the effect on the family and the community as well……the belief of the gardai and the family is that the answer could very well be local'

For more from Drivetime with Mary Wilson, click here.