THE body of a pensioner missing from Dublin since last summer has been discovered in Britain.
Thomas Kennedy, 81, had been missing for more than six months.
His body was discovered in Blackpool on Wednesday.
Gardaí confirmed that they have been informed by Interpol of the discovery.
Mr Kennedy's disappearance had been unexplained as there were no sightings or CCTV footage to suggest where he had gone or what had happened.
He was last seen putting the bins out outside his Finglas home at around 9.30pm on the evening of July 29 last year.
His grandson Ross returned to the house later that night, when he noticed his grandfather was missing and raised the alarm.
A lengthy appeal was launched by his family, which received nationwide coverage in Ireland.
Volunteers took to the streets of Dublin to no avail and since last July there had been no confirmed sightings of Mr Kennedy.
His family renewed their appeal in an emotional video plea at Christmas.
His son Vincent Kennedy said at the time: "There’s always that slight, slight hope that he’ll come back to us. I’ll never give up.”
It is understood that Mr Kennedy’s body has been recovered but no further details have been released.
In a statement on the Facebook page set up to raise awareness about his disappearance, the volunteers who worked tirelessly to bring him home said: “It's with great sadness that we would like to inform you that the body of Thomas Kennedy has been recovered.
"Tommy's family would like to extend their thanks to people from all over the country who have been involved in the effort to bring him home. Our condolences to family and friends of Thomas.”
The Kennedy family will now be bringing Thomas home to Ireland to lay him to rest.
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