Shock is the great unifier in Kenmare at the moment. That, and a fondness for Michael Gaine, the local sheep farmer who has been missing for the past week.
Walking the streets of the bustling town, it is hard to find a bad word to be said about the 56-year-old.
People in every street, pub and shop knew of him and had plenty of warm words.
“If you were in trouble or if there was an animal or anything in trouble and you phoned Mike he’d be with you in 10 minutes,” said Dan McCarthy, a local councillor and neighbour of Mr Gaine. “He was just that type of person.”
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Mr McCarthy said the farmer’s disappearance is “a complete, devastating shock to this part of the community and our locality”.
“He would be well-known as a farmer. The family ... would be farming all their lives,” he said.
Mr McCarthy runs a garage in the town and said Mr Gaine was a regular presence there.
“He was in the shop every morning for a cup of tea and a chat. And he’s like a big brother to my son,” he said.
Mr Gaine visited Kenmare last Thursday and gardaí have released a CCTV image of him buying phone credit in a Centra store at 9.48am. He was seen minutes later in the town, which is seemingly the last confirmed sighting of him. He appears to have driven back to his home outside the town, off the N71 at Carrig East, before disappearing.
His car - a bronze Toyota Rav4, registration 152 KY 366 - was left in the yard but despite extensive searches of his farm and nearby lands, no trace of him has been found.
Mr Gaine’s home has been forensically searched and his car has been taken away for examination, an unusual move in a missing person’s inquiry.
However, sources said the disappearance is so unusual, out of character and without explanation, that every resource available had been committed to the case.
Gardaí have not ruled out the possibility that Mr Gaine was the victim of foul play, with sources saying this avenue must be kept open as part of the investigation.
Garda checkpoints were mounted on Thursday close to Mr Gaine’s home, with a view to stopping people who might regularly travel past the property at the same time each week in the hope they may have seen the missing man but not reported it to the force.
“It is now one week since the last sighting of Michael Gaine,” the Garda said in a fresh appeal for information on Thursday. “Michael’s family have had no contact from him and his family and An Garda Síochána are extremely concerned for his well-being.”
Michael Hanley, a neighbour of Mr Gaine’s, said: “Nearly all my life I’ve known Mike, and he’s as neighbourly as they come. All the Gaines are.”
He said the last week has been tough for the community, and everyone is waiting to see the results of the ongoing search operation, which recently expanded when the Garda Water Unit searched a local quarry.
“I really hope he’ll be found alive – we all do,” said Mr Hanley. “We all just want an answer at this stage.”
He said Mr Gaine’s mother died in the last few weeks and this may have taken a toll on him.
“You just don’t know what goes on in people’s minds,” he said. “Hope is all we have now.”
John, another local who knew Mr Gaine, said the whole town is “mystified” by his sudden disappearance.
“Nobody seems to know what is going on with this case,” he said, adding that the circumstances are “bizarre”.
However, he is seeking to remain positive about the prospect that Mr Gaine will be found alive and well.
