Gerry McCann interviewed for BBC World Service, 19 June 2007

[Jill Havern]

Gerry McCann interviewed for BBC World Service BBC Media Player

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The McCanns release balloons at the 50th day anniversary event in Praia da Luz

Interview recorded: 19 June 2007
Interview broadcast: 22 June 2007 (50 day anniversary)
This interview was recorded on 19 June 2007, on Gerry's second trip home to the UK.

The short visit was to attend a 'series of meetings' and to conduct interviews for a campaign manager; 'regarding sustaining the search for Madeleine long term', according to Gerry in his blog of that day.

The release of balloons on the 50th day of Madeleine's disappearance marked the McCanns intention to move their campaign away from personal appearances - such as those seen on their European trips - into 'event driven media exposure'.

(00:09:52)



Transcript

By Nigel Moore

Jenni Murray: It's 50 days since 4-year-old Madeleine McCann disappeared from the holiday villa, in Portugal, rented by her parents. Since then nothing's been heard of the little girl despite a remarkable campaign to keep the case in the public eye. Posters of her have been put up across Europe and North Africa. Her parents, Gerry and Kate, have made visits to European capitals and they've even been to see The Pope. But, so far, nothing. Gerry McCann has just returned to Portugal from a brief trip to Britain to appoint a campaign manager to coordinate their efforts to publicise the case; only the second time he's left Portugal since Madeleine's disappearance. But I spoke to him, while he was here, and asked him what stage the investigations were at now.

Gerry McCann: The actual specifics of what happened and I think the key things here about, errm... who actually has taken Madeleine, errr... why they've taken her and where she is, errr... I don't think we're any the wiser. That's very much why we're having to continue our campaign on an international front to make sure that Madeleine's image and, errr... details of her disappearance are as widely spread as possible.

JM: Are there any leads at all? I mean, is there anything that the police are now following up, for example?

GM: There's a lot of, errr... information still coming into the inquiry and, errm... you know, there's a lot of hard detective work going on. We have to realise that if they were hard leads we wouldn't be telling, errr... the public because, errr... they would be handled in a very quiet, errr... fashion and, errr... investigated. The important thing, at this time, is that we don't have Madeleine and, errr... that's the only, errr... result that'll clearly make Kate and I happy, and the rest of the family.

JM: How do you think Madeleine herself would be coping?

GM: You know, that's somewhere where we, errr... we can't really go because, errm... it's back to speculation and we've absolutely no idea who's taken her and where she is and, errm... you know, what sort of surroundings she's in, so there's just too many in... errr... errr... probabilities there to really consider it.

JM: Is she a tough-minded little girl, though?

GM: I think it might be fair to say that... that she's got a lot of her, errr... mum and dad's characteristics

JM: Mmm... How about the rest of the family; you and... you and Kate especially? I mean, how are you coping really?

GM: Every parent can empathise, errr... with what we're going through, errm... and we've had our fair share of emotions but, errr... you know, we're... we're trying to stay focused and looking forward and very much, errm... putting our energies into helping, errr... the search for Madeleine. That does help us to cope, errm... I think it's very important also to emphasise that we have had, errr... tremendous support, errr... both from our family and close friends, errr... we've had tremendous support from the local community, particularly through the church here, errr... which really lifted us, errr... particularly in those, errr... very few first days where, errm... you know, it... it was not, you know... it was just awful really.

JM: You're talking to me now but how difficult is it to be... to be brave in public; to deal with the... the media; to be in the public eye all the time?

GM: It hasn't been nearly, errm... as intrusive as one might expected it to have been and they have largely respected our privacy, with one or two, quite minor, exceptions. The phase of the campaign now is very different to that which we, errr... have undertaken in the last few weeks with Kate and I, you know, travelling to different areas, errm... either to raise awareness in countries in close proximity to Portugal, such as Spain and Morocco, and also going directly to countries, errr... The Netherlands and Berlin to appeal for information. The campaign really started, errr... within electronic media and, errr... my sister, Phil, took the first campaign-type action, errr... and that was to start a... a chain email, errr... with a poster of Madeleine's image and asked people to distribute it and then we decided to set up a website dedicated to finding Madeleine, the [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] So, there's huge amounts of information there and the message that we're sending out... you know, the overriding message, is clearly: 'Madeleine is still missing and, as long as she's missing, we will continue searching for her'.

JM: I've, errm... recently come back from... from southern France. I saw posters in... in several places there, errm... about Madeleine. But what do you... you've obviously been talking to experts on missing children. What do they tell you might have happened to Madeleine that posters such as that, and your... your trips to Morocco, Spain, the other countries, might help to solve?

GM: The general viewpoint from, errm... experts is that raised public awareness is a good thing, when a child is missing, and that's been the main focus of the campaign, errm... Now, you know, we think that that has got a good chance of helping but we know there's no guarantees.

JM: Has the campaign helped you and Kate to cope, in that, at least you feel you're doing something?

GM: It has helped us and it helped us stay positive, errr... perhaps when our, errr... we were feeling very negative. Yes, there's no doubt having a focus and diverting your energy, errr... into the campaign, it certainly does help us but, at the same time, when you don't achieve the... the end goal of getting Madeleine back, it... it's still, you know, very difficult as time goes on. We are determined and, errr... we certainly will not give up and I think, you know, parents would know that; they would do anything to find their child.

JM: You've had help from trauma counsellors. Has... has that actually helped you?

GM: Without a doubt, errr... and I think what, errm... the psychologists, errm... did was give us the tools, errm... to help us cope at the beginning. We could only imagine the worst scenarios and, errm... he helped us to consider other possibilities and that, you know, there's reasonably good possibilities, errr... that Madeleine, errm... has not been seriously harmed and that has helped drive us. We have tremendous hurt that Madeleine is not here and we've had to have, you know, 50 days now, errr... without her and, of course, when you think about Madeleine not being with her family, errr... it's very distressing.

JM: So, for you and... and for Kate, what actually keeps the hope alive? I mean, when... when you're together, can you actually bolster up each other? Is it... or do you simply find that when you're together you feel very depressed about it?

GM: Despite, you know, a huge investigation, there is no evidence, to date, that Madeleine has been, errm... harmed, errr... physically, errm... and that, errr... means that we will always have hope and, errm... the hope is what drives us on in our determination to be reunited with our daughter. So, errr... of course, there are... we have blips and, errr... moments where, errm... we're not quite as positive and that is difficult to deal with but we support each other; we get family support and the huge amount of goodwill.

JM: Are there other international cases you know about which give you hope; where the children were... were eventually found?

GM: There's been a number ofcases, errm... where children have been found, after a long time, errm... that, when you think about these, you know, is a double-edged sword. Errr... You know about the case of the Austrian girl who was found after, I think, eight years, errr... and you think: 'Goodness me,'you never want to be separated, errm... that long and, in fact, every day is too long for us and there's been another case earlier this year where a boy, errr... was found in America after four... four years; well. Errm... So, yes, you know, there are clearly, errr... cases where people are returned.

JM: So, if anyone is listening to this and they... they feel they've got information that could help, what should they do?

GM: Well, there's two ways really, errr... to go about it, errm... all of the police forces in certainly Europe and, errr... North Africa are alerted, errm... to the fact that Madeleine's missing and so they can report information, errr... directly to local, errr... police force and they will act on that and feed it back into Portuguese inquiry.

JM: There's something else that's happening in the campaign today involving balloons. Now, tell me about that.

GM: To mark the 50th day that Madeleine's been missing we have, errr... are going to be releasing 50 balloons, errr... with helium in them. These will be green and yellow to signify the British and, errr... Portuguese colours of hope and on each balloon there'll be a card with Madeleine's image and, errm... the details of the numbers to call if anyone has information and we've had tremendous support. There's going to be at least a hundred locations round the world, from places far afield as Argentina, Philippines, Poland, Slovenia, Romania, errr... South Africa, Ventura in California and, errm... it really is becoming a global campaign.

JM: Gerry McCann, father of Madeleine - who has been missing now for 50 days. You can find more details about the campaign to find her online at bbcworldservice.com/outlook