The father of Gareth O'Connor, believed to have been abducted and murdered by the IRA, has had to sell his son's car to pay the mortgage on his son's home and keep a roof over his grandson's head.
In a further indication of the family's desperation to learn more about the fate of 24-year-old Gareth, above right, his mother Bernie is to travel to England in two weeks to meet a high-profile psychic in an attempt to contact her son.
His father, Mark, last night (Thursday) said he was determined that his 19-month-old grandson Owen and Gareth's girlfriend Leona would "not end up homeless because of what the IRA have done".
Since Sunday May 11, the day Gareth was last seen, the O'Connor family have repeatedly claimed that he was 'disappeared' by the Provisional IRA as he made a regular journey from his home in Armagh to Dundalk.
In an interview with the Irish News in July, Chief Constable Hugh Orde said it was "highly likely" that the IRA was behind Mr O'Connor's suspected abduction and murder.
A statement issued by the paramilitary organisation on Sunday night denied any involvement in the young man's disappearance.
The father-of-two was facing charges of Real IRA membership in the Republic when he disappeared. As part of his bail conditions he had to report to Dundalk Garda station.
The Volkswagen Golf Mr O'Connor had been driving was last seen passing through the south Armagh border village of Newtownhamilton.
Despite extensive police searches on both sides of the border neither his car nor his body have been found.
Mr O'Connor said his son's disappearance had inflicted financial as well as emotional and psychological burdens on the family.
"Gareth's mortgage has to be paid, it's as simple as that, so I had to sell a car he was working on to cover it," he said.
"The car was sold on Wednesday night and that money went straight into the bank to pay the mortgage.
"If it comes to it, I'll sell my own car to keep Owen and Gareth's girlfriend in the house. It's what Gareth would want."
Mr O'Connor said his wife planned to meet medium Colin Fry, who has a television programme called The Sixth Sense, in the hope that he could help her speak to Gareth.
"He can contact the dead. We have no other choice but to try things like this because of the situation we have been put in by the IRA," he said.
"The way it's looking is that we are going to have to wait a long, long time before we get Gareth back.
"I'm not going to rest until justice is done and I get satisfaction."
