Friday June 20 2008
The mother of missing teenager Amy Fitzpatrick had a "very encouraging" meeting in Dublin with the spokesman for the parents of Madeleine McCann.
Audrey Fitzpatrick (40) and her partner Dave Mahon met with former BBC reporter Clarence Mitchell at the Westbury Hotel to seek new ways of raising awareness about the search for Amy.
Clarence Mitchell works full-time as spokesman for Kate and Gerry McCann whose little daughter Madeleine was abducted from their holiday apartment in Spain.
Dubliner Amy Fitzpatrick disappeared in Spain on the night of January 1 last while walking to her home in Calahonda from a friend's house on the Costa del Sol.
"We had a very encouraging meeting with Clarence. He flew into Dublin just to meet us and flew back to England a few hours later," Audrey told the Herald today.
"When Clarence appeared on the Late Late Show a while ago, a lot of people were telling him about Amy so he left his number for us to contact him," said Audrey.
"He offered to come over to meet us. It was very good meeting him. He has offered us real help in getting Amy into the British media," she said.
"He was confident he will be able to get Amy's story on the BBC and on Sky and on GMTV too," she said.
"He is doing this just because he wants to help find Amy. We're very grateful to him. We have been trying for a long time to get the British media interested in the search for Amy," she added.
Audrey and her family have been anxious to alert the 200,000 British people living on the Costa del Sol about Amy's disappearance. The British ex-pats mainly use British television channels and British newspapers.
Audrey and her partner are in Dublin for a few days before they return to their home in Spain.
