{"id":666077,"date":"2026-01-01T04:10:17","date_gmt":"2026-01-01T04:10:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/666077\/"},"modified":"2026-01-01T04:10:17","modified_gmt":"2026-01-01T04:10:17","slug":"appeal-for-information-on-20th-anniversary-of-holywood-man-martin-kellys-disappearance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/666077\/","title":{"rendered":"Appeal for information on 20th anniversary of Holywood man Martin Kelly\u2019s disappearance"},"content":{"rendered":"

Detective Inspector Stephen Harvey said the case continues to have a profound impact on Mr Kelly\u2019s family and that detectives remain determined to establish what happened to him.<\/p>\n

Mr Kelly \u2014 a plumber who also worked part-time as a barman at the Priory Inn in Holywood, where he was from \u2014 was last seen on New Year\u2019s Day 2006.<\/p>\n

He had worked on New Year\u2019s Eve 2005 in the bar, where he had also had drinks before attending two house parties with friends. The following day, he and his friends went to Pat\u2019s Bar (which has since closed down) on Garmoyle Street in Sailortown, to watch a football match.<\/p>\n

\"Martin<\/p>\n

Martin Kelly
\nCredit: PSNI<\/p>\n

After his friends left, Mr Kelly stayed behind talking to other customers. He left the bar at approximately 7.10pm and has not been seen since.<\/p>\n

At the time of his disappearance, Mr Kelly was described as being around 6ft 1in tall, of slim build, with short dark hair. He was wearing a black Guinness T-shirt and blue jeans.<\/p>\n

Det Insp Harvey added this week that \u201cpolice investigating Martin’s disappearance carried out searches on land and on the water and deployed the diving team and air support team in these searches\u201d.<\/p>\n

“We have also undertaken extensive enquiries, but despite conducting a wide range of interviews and reviewing all available CCTV relating to the incident, Martin has not been located,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe remain committed and determined to discovering what happened to Martin and detectives will continue to follow up all new lines of enquiry and any new information.<\/p>\n

“We would urge anyone who may have knowledge of Martin\u2019s disappearance to contact the Police Service of Northern Ireland.<\/p>\n

\u201cInformation can be given to detectives by calling 101, the independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111, or Missing People on 116 000.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mr Kelly\u2019s father Raymond (74) has never stopped searching for his son, or answers in relation to his disappearance.<\/p>\n

\"Martin<\/p>\n

Martin Kelly
\nCredit: PSNI<\/p>\n

He now plans to pursue those he believes hold vital information, including one man in particular.<\/p>\n

Raymond, who does not believe his son fell into the River Lagan, and suspects he was murdered, recently told Sunday Life: \u201cThere is a witness that would know everything, but he will not speak to me.<\/p>\n

\u201cMany years ago, I went to his mum and dad\u2019s house to try and get him to speak to me, but he wouldn\u2019t.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve made the decision I am going to pay him a visit in the new year because it\u2019s about time. It\u2019s been 20 years. He has key information.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe knows a lot, and I\u2019m not letting it go. I want him to share this information with me. I believe I am entitled to that.\u201d<\/p>\n

He added: \u201cI do believe he was murdered by paramilitaries.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was pretty stressed out around Christmas time, and I wonder did he pick up information or know something he shouldn\u2019t have done.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was working in a bar in Holywood and his religion didn\u2019t help with the UVF and LVF in the area.<\/p>\n

\u201cNone of his group of friends down there at the time would speak to me. They were really spooked.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe ended up with two phones that night, and I have always been interested in why.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been told he had a lend of it because his battery was dying, but I had to really fight for that information, which should have been given to me long ago.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe didn\u2019t make any calls or texts, and he received one phone call that evening. I think he knew people were after him.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are six people who are alive who know an awful lot of information about what happened to Martin, and they need to speak up. I haven\u2019t forgotten about them.<\/p>\n

\"Martin<\/p>\n

Martin (circled) in CCTV footage<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s something there that these people are hiding, which is deep and dark.\u201d<\/p>\n

The case was referred to the Police Ombudsman in 2023, and Raymond previously appealed for an individual who contacted the Missing People national helpline in June 2020 to reach out again.<\/p>\n

Two young women in the bar were reportedly overheard discussing \u201chow two men were going to get Martin\u201d.<\/p>\n

Raymond continues to search for these women and others today \u2014 the 20th anniversary of his son\u2019s disappearance.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Detective Inspector Stephen Harvey said the case continues to have a profound impact on Mr Kelly\u2019s family and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":666078,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5011],"tags":[2378,5825,6570,1144,1610,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-666077","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-northern-ireland","8":"tag-belfast","9":"tag-niamh-campbell","10":"tag-north-belfast-news","11":"tag-northern-ireland","12":"tag-police-service-of-northern-ireland","13":"tag-uk","14":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115817888197333159","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/666077","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=666077"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/666077\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/666078"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=666077"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=666077"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=666077"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}