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Emma Nevin

Bernadette Connolly: Daughter Jade says she 'can't give up' in emotional interview

Bernadette Connolly's daughter Jade is continuing to appeal for new information four weeks on from the 45-year-old's disappearance.

She has vowed she "can't give up" until she finds her mam and is requesting anyone in the Malahide area to check CCTV for any trace of Bernadette.

New CCTV footage from a house near the public toilets on Malahide beach shows Bernadette in the distance on Donabate Beach at 12:46pm on Friday January 7.

Before this footage came to light, Bernadette's last known location was at 12:38pm, when an image of Donabate Beach was captured on her phone.

The phone was found alongside her bag and jacket lying on the sand.

Jade Connolly has reiterated her appeal for anyone on Donabate Beach that day, Friday January 7, to check any photographs they took to see if her mam is in the background.

Speaking on Newstalk, Jade said there are many unanswered questions about her mam's disappearance so they are trying to cover all possibilities.

She told Pat Kenny: "There's so many different questions that we need answered. Where is she? Is she on land, is she in the water. We're open minded about the whole thing because obviously some items have been found but we have no evidence to suggest that she's in the sea either.

"So we're trying to keep word of mouth out there with posters and we still have guys going out with drones over land. We have people going out on boats on the coast.

Bernadette Connolly (Garda Press Office)

"We're still trying to appeal to people on the coasts when they're on their walks this weekend, will they please keep their eyes peeled, going right up to Skerries, Bettystown and Drogheda. Please keep her in mind."

Jade said she is "not in denial" but she "needs to keep going with this".

"You're trying to be optimistic but I'm not in denial about a situation either. Until I have her, I can't give up, I can't sit back and not do anything.

"For me not knowing would be the worst. If you did know, you can try to learn to grieve and have her back and give her what she deserves.

"For all I know, she could have went off with a friend. That this friend knows that all of this is going on and she's missing.

"There's just so many different options. Was it a tragic accident, that the waves got too strong and pulled her in while she was paddling her feet? There's so many different things to think about.

"All I know is that I need to keep going with this."

Jade said her mam was in good form that morning and did her usual routine.

"My mam went about her usual routine that day. She got up, she had her breakfast. She made my grandparents their breakfast.

"She actually did a spot of cleaning, Friday would usually be her day to do the cleaning so it would be fresh for the weekend. Her and my granddad would get stuck in.

"After that was done she said 'look dad, I fancy heading on out do you need anything?'

"He said 'you go out enjoy yourself, no I don't need anything'. She said' that's fine, see you later', so she was in good form that day.

Bernadette got a taxi from Swords to Donabate that morning and was picked up on CCTV on the Shoreline Hotel's cameras.

Jade said: "I have said before, Donabate wouldn't usually be our place to go. We were very used to going to Malahide, Portmarnock and Howth. but that's not to say that she's never been there before, but just not with me she's never been there.

"She did say to the taxi man that she was meeting a friend. That's what he has mentioned when he gave his statement to the gardai.

"She walked right down to the very end of the beach and took a photograph of the Malahide Grand Hotel was in view.

"You could just see the photo of the opposite there, that was at 12:38pm."

A man walking on the beach found some of Bernadette's belonings at 2:50pm.

Bernadette Connolly (@jadeybaby338 Instagram)

"Then her belongings were found back up the way there at 2:50pm. He found her coat and her bag and her phone was in her coat pocket.

"Her belongings were found up high, so they weren't right near the water, they were up high near the dunes. So people would have had to have walked by her belongings."

Jade said it was common for her mam to paddle her feet and a pink towel was found near her belongings.

"She wasn't a swimmer but paddling her feet would be a common thing with my mam. I have mentioned before that there was a towel, a pink towel found close to where the coat and the bag was.

"Now we can't be sure if that is my mam's towel, but obviously it's something that we're being open minded about. It very well could be her towel and it just so happens that they were found in close proximity to her other belongings."

Jade said her mam's disappearance is a "total shock" and has "never happened before".

"As I've said before, she's a very, very solid woman who's there for everybody. Everybody loves my mam. She's a really hard worker, she's a loyal, kind, caring, independent person.

"Nobody could ever have imagined this happening. This has never happened before.

"You know with some people you might expect them to go missing for a while and come back, but this is a total shock.

"She had a black puffer coat on, she had her black Nike leggings on and black and white Nike runners on as well. So the Nike runners had a white chunky sole and they're a size 6.

"She had a black bobble hat on. The coat and the bag are in Swords garda station, that's what the man had found. So we're still missing her obviously and her runners as well."

Missing woman Bernadette Connolly with dog Gucci (Instagram/jadeybaby338)

Bernadette may also have been wearing a black Nike top with the white tick logo on the front.

Jade is appealing to anyone in the Malahide area to check CCTV for any trace of Bernadette.

"The new information is that a house near the Malahide beach car park, near the public toilets has picked up footage of my mam at 12:46pm. So that would have been her walking back after taking the photograph."

Jade is now asking anyone in the Malahide area with CCTV systems to check if her mother appears anywhere on the day of her disappearance - January 7 after 12:45 pm.

Anyone with any information on Bernadette Connolly can contact Swords Garda Station 01 666 4700, the Garda Confidential Line on 1800 666 111 or any Garda station.

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