Missing Amy Fitzpatrick's aunt thanks Tánaiste Micheál Martin as he agrees to help

Amy’s aunt Christine Kenny, who has been fighting to find the truth for the last 15 years, attended the meeting with her husband and daughter.

A new post on Facebook, alongside a picture of Christine, says the family had an “extremely positive meeting this evening with Tánaiste Micheál Martin”.

“He listened to our concerns and said he would do the best he could,” the post reads. “He will have the officials from his department contact the Spanish authorities to see what can be done. He has promised to keep us updated on any new developments that may occur.”

The post adds: “We are very thankful to Tánaiste Micheál Martin for the concern and compassion that he showed us and for taking time out of his busy schedule to meet with us this evening.”

Amy was aged 15 when she disappeared on New Year's Day in 2008. She was originally from Coolock but had been living on the Costa Del Sol with her mother Audrey and stepfather Dave Mahon at the time she went missing.

In January of this year, her aunt Christine handed in a letter addressed to the Tánaiste who is in charge of the Department of Foreign Affairs, urging for him to help bring Amy home.

Speaking to reporters outside the Dáil Ms Kenny said she is "disappointed" in how officials have handled the disappearance of an Irish citizen.

The family now want the government to put pressure on their Spanish counterparts to ensure a proper investigation is conducted.

"We only want to promote Amy to get her out there to get her found, nothing less, nothing more, we just want to bring her home. And if she has passed, to give her a proper Christian burial with her brother Dean."

Christine said that a proper investigation needs to be carried out and that places that should have been searched were never dug up.

She also said that her brother Christopher Fitzpatrick, Amy's biological dad, has never been formally informed of his daughter's disappearance by the Guardia Civil.

"I think it's a disgrace and as I said our government has treated this as nothing.

"She is, as I said an Irish citizen, she needs to be found and at the end of the day she's someone's child and that someone is my brother."

Amy Fitzpatrick's family were met outside the Dáil by Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald and the party's Justice spokesman Martin Kenny.

In the letter written by Mr Fitzpatrick he said nothing has been done to find his daughter despite new evidence and information being uncovered.

"As one family and one father to another, I ask for your help," he wrote.

"I have lost both of my children tragically in tragic circumstances. All I want is to be able to visit her alongside her brother.

"Our family is broken hearted. Please help us find Amy and bring her home and lay her to rest."

She was last seen alive at around 10pm after leaving a friend's home following a sleep over.

Her walk home should have taken just 10 minutes, but she never made it to her villa near Mijas.

Speaking to the Sunday World, Christine said “as long as Amy’s case remains a missing person’s probe, the file on her disappearance will continue to sit on a shelf in a Guardia Civil station in Spain.

“That’s not good enough and we need the Irish Government to stand with us, Amy’s family members, who have had to fight this on our own for the last 15 years. Amy was an Irish citizen … she deserved so much better than this.”

One of the leads Christine is eager to have investigated concerns stables near the now disused Hippodrome racetrack in Mijas, Spain where she received an anonymous tip-off that her niece remains may have been buried.

The stables are located ten-minutes-drive from the location where Amy disappeared as she walked home on the Costa Del Sol on New Year’s Day 2008, while in Spain with her mother, Audrey and Audrey’s partner Dave Mahon.

When the Sunday World visited the site of the stables, our photographer spoke with a veterinary officer who retained an office on site after the Hippodrome was shut down due to corruption.

Similarly, two members of the Police Nacional who spoke with our photographer during his visit to the site said they were unaware of the site’s links to the investigation into Amy’s disappearance.